Promises are Forever
by dream0utloud27
Summary: She laid there just watching him, wishing that a miracle would bring them back to the good times.
1. Chapter 1

Promises are Forever

~NOTE: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS or DISNEY.

_She layed there just watching him, wishing that a miracle would bring them back to the good times._

Chapter One: Regrets

"Alright Miss Montez, you have to leave now. Visiting hours were over 15 minutes ago."

Gabriella knew this, but didn't want to go home without him. She forced herself up from the small chair, looked back at him, and left the room, as she had done many times before.

Walking down to her car was the same routine as always, but this time she couldn't do it. Falling to the ground in tears, Gabriella wished that he could be here picking her up from the ground, telling her that everything was going to be alright. She remembered the first time that he had done this for her, which made Gabriella cry even harder.

"_I can't even stand you any longer! All you do is mess everything up! Do you know how hard i've been working on this project, and now it is a disaster!"_

Gabriella shook her head at the words that her seventeen year old self had said. Why didn't she just fix the project, it really wasn't a big deal, wasn't it?

_"Gabs, im sorry, I just didn't know. You fell asleep and I was just trying to tidy your stuff up a little. I didn't see the cup there."_

She knew that he was right, and that he was just trying to help her.

_"I don't care! I've been working on that project for hours now, and it, it, it's ruined!"_

_"I'll fix it, i'll help you! But we really need to get to school now, we're going to be late."_

_"I don't want a ride from you, for all I know you may forget to brake at a stop sign and then i'll be dead!"_

Why did she say this? Now, she would have died for him. She would do anything to see his soft blue eyes open once again.

_Gabriella ran out of her house with tears running down her face, off into the direction of the woods. She was glad that her mother was at work. She didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, except her father._

The thought of Gabriella's tall, muscular father popped into her head. "He was a great daddy, he would have been here for me", she thought to herself. Trying to make herself not cry anymore than she already was, she shifted her thoughts back to that day, that special day when she felt what true love was like for the first time.

_She looked behind her and saw him running after her. Maybe saying all of those things was a bad idea. He really cared about her. _

_Just then, Gabriella tripped over a large rock and fell right on her left arm. The pain was excrutiating. She let out a blood curderling scream. Her arm was broken. _

_Suddenly, he came over to her out of nowhere. "It's going to be alright", his soft, tender voice spoke,"show me where it hurts."_

_As she looked at her bloody arm, he pulled her tighter in his arms. _

_"Let's take you to the hospital Gabs, this needs to be checked out."_

_She gasped for air, realizing that she hadn't taken a breath since she fell. _

_He picked her up and held her just like her father used to when she was a little girl. The breeze felt good against her teary face as they made their way out of the woods and into his truck._

She wished that he was here now, to tell her that everything was going to be okay, and that he would be coming home soon.

**So what do you guys think so far? This is my first story, keep in mind. **


	2. Chapter 2

Promises are Forever

~NOTE: I do not own any of the characters or disney.

Chapter Two: Emptiness

Driving was a thing that Gabriella used to love doing. She would always volunteer to take any of her friends anywhere, just for the thrill of the road.

Now, things were different. Driving meant that Gabriella had time by herself, just to think. But she didn't want to think. She missed her old neighborhood in Albuquerque. Her mom was there, alone probually. She hadn't seen her since her life first made a turn for the worst.

_"Mom, can you come to the hospital? Troy was just in a car accident, Lucielle called me. I just need someone here, now."_

The short conversation flooded back into her memory, just the thing that she didn't want to happen. Their apartment complex was just a block away, she could hold back the tears until she got inside. Gabriella parked in her spot, walked upstairs and entered her apartment.

It looked so empty inside. Since Troy's accident she really hadn't done much to the place. There was a couch and a tv in the living room. That was all she really needed.

Gabriella walked into their bedroom and pulled out a pair of Troy's sweatpants. She had no one to impress. The love of her life was in a hospital room a few blocks away, and had been there for five months now. Those five months were the longest five months that she had ever been through. Work was slow, and all of her friends were off with their boyfriends, and for some even fiances.

Just then, Gabriella thought about her mother again. They had become distant after Troy's accident. Her mother knew how it felt to lose someone so close to her.

Gabriella's father was killed when she was just seven years old. That was seventeen years ago. Seventeen years that her mother has been a widow. At the time of her father's death, her mother was just thirty years old. She was left with the responsibility of paying bills, cooking dinner, and most importantly, taking care of her seven year old daughter who now had no father.

She was thankful that her and Troy didn't have any kids yet. But, if she did have a child running around the apartment, she would have a little piece of Troy to hug when she got lonely.

Gabriella looked at the clock. It was 7:30pm. She probually should have had some dinner, but in the past months she had no appetite.

She put her head down on Troy's pillow. It just wasn't the same without him. Gabriella started to drift to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would bring her good news.

**Hey guys! Thanks for adding me to your subscriptions, it really means a lot to me. I'm not quite sure what's going to happen next, so if you guys have any ideas, don't be afraid to review! **


	3. Chapter 3

Promises are Forever

~NOTE: I do not own any of the characters or Disney.

Chapter Three: Visits

It was another day. Another day without the love of her life.

Gabriella opened her eyes. She didn't know what to do today. Sundays were the worst days for her. Troy used to make her breakfast in bed. Gabriella longed to hear Troy's voice again.

Just then, Gabriella had the greatest idea. She missed her mother and Troy's family, so why not visit them. Being around Troy's family made Gabriella forget about all of her problems.

Growing up as an only child without a father took a toll on Gabriella. She was a quiet girl and really didn't have a lot of friends during elementary school. In 4th grade however, she met someone that changed her life forever.

_The kids in Gabriella's class were instructed to sit in a circle on the rug so that that could all meet each other. At the time, socializing was a thing that she tried to avoid the best that she could. As the class filled onto the carpet Gabriella decided that it would be best to sit far in the corner where no one else was sitting. Someone sat next to her, someone who she had never seen before_.

_"Hi, i'm Troy, Troy Bolton. I love basketball_, _what's your name?" _

The image of the little boy with shaggy hair filled her memory. Gabriella laughed. She would have never guessed that this boy would be living with her in fifteen years.

_"Hi, im Gabriella Montez." was all she said. She really didn't like to talk, expecially to boys she didn't know._

_"I think we're going to play a game with partners, do you want to be mine?" She had no idea why this boy chose her out of all of the other kids in their class. Someone actually noticed her for once, so why not be friendly. _

Gabriella definitly knew what she was going to do today. That memory from the first day of 4th grade sparked something inside of her that she hadn't felt since's Troy's accident.

She jumped out of bed, put on one of Troy's sweatshirts, threw her hair up into a messy bun, and walked into the living room. For the first time in months Gabriella was actually hungry for breakfast. She made herself some french toast and ran out of the house.

Maybe today would bring the miracle that Gabriella needed. She hoped that soon she could see Troy open his eyes again.

Gabriella pulled out of the parking garage and drove down the street to the hospital. She walked up the stairs to the 5th floor, took a left, grabbed a visitor's pass from the main desk, and walked down the hall to Troy's room.

It was a beautiful day outside. It was warm with a cold breeze and sunny, just the way that Troy liked it.

Gabriella walked over to his bed. He laid there, just like he always had. She pressed her head against his chest. His heart was beating, but his face wasn't the golden brown color that it was five months ago. April was the last time that she saw him running around outside with his siblings. April was the last time that she saw his beautiful blue eyes looking back at her. She picked up his hand and squeezed it. "I love you Troy," she whispered into his ear,"I will always love you. Get better soon. I miss you, your family misses you. I'm going to see them soon. I feel bad that i haven't talked to them since April. I guess I didn't realize that we're all going through the same pain."

Gabriella always loved to talk to Troy. He would laugh at her sometimes. When she was upset, he always made her laugh, or sometimes even cry because she was so glad that he was there for her. Troy was the type of guy that made anyone smile, and definitly lit the room up when he walked in.

"See you soon, baby." Gabriella kissed Troy's forehead and walked out of the room. Today seemed a lot better than yesterday. Yesterday, she was a mess. Today she felt prepared for any upcoming challenges.

Gabriella pulled in her mother's driveway. She hoped that it was ok that she just showed up without calling. It had been months since she had been here. The house looked different.

She walked up the walkway and opened the door. Maria Montez wasn't one to keep the door locked. The inside of the house looked the same that it always looked. The walls were a deep blue color with a sandy carpet on the floor. The Montez girls loved the beach and decided that a beach themed living room would be a great addition to the house.

"Mom, mom, it's Gabriella. Where are you?"

"Over here, honey." Gabriella loved her mother's voice. It was the voice that calmed her down when she would fall and skin her knee as a child, and it was the voice that told her that everything was going to be okay after Troy's accident.

"I hope you don't mind me coming over without calling. I just thought it would be a good day to visit." Gabriella knew a part of her mother still wanted her home, but Maria knew that her baby wasn't a baby anymore.

"Oh Gabi, of course it's okay! I've missed you so much. So how have you been?"

Maria was always the kind of mother who constantly thought something was wrong whenever Gabriella walked into the room.

"Good, well, yesterday was a bad day. Things at work are slow."

Gabriella worked at a law firm five minutes away from their apartment uptown. Her mother was overjoyed when she got the job because she knew how much that Gabriella wanted it. Maria worked in an office building as a secratary 15 minutes away from her house.

"What happened yesterday? Are you hurt?" Maria always asked way too many questions.

"I, uh, just had a hard day. Missing Troy, you know. It's not easy."

Her mother knew how this felt. Becoming a widow at the age of 30 wasn't the easiest thing that Maria had to deal with in her 47 years of life. Of course, Gabriella wasn't a widow, but she hoped that she wouldn't become one until she was 90 years old and had lived 81 amazing years with Troy Bolton.

Just then, Gabriella's phone rang. It was Peyton, Troy's little sister. Peyton loved Gabriella. She admired her and she knew it.

Gabriella loved Troy's big family. Jack and Lucille had four children. Mark was the oldest Bolton boy, three years older than her and Troy. He was always the overachiever in the family. Then there were the Bolton twins, who were born when Troy was nine. Tyler was the older twin by eight and a half minutes. Peyton was the baby of the family, and the only daughter. Living in a house with all boys made Peyton tough, but not tough enough to cope with the fact that her big brother was laying in a hospital bed, and she didn't know when he would be coming home. Ever since Gabriella and Troy started to have playdates after they met, Peyton always smiled when she had held her. As all of them grew older Tyler began to drift away from his siblings, which worried Peyton. Gabriella saw this in her precious blue eyes and knew that she had to be the sister that Peyton never had.

"Hey Pey, what's up?"

"Nothing much. My mom wanted to know if you and Maria wanted to come over for dinner. I told her that your status said "going back home for the day" and she insisted. So do you want to? I haven't seen you in forever, texting just isn't enough, I have tons to tell you!"

Peyton was always a big talker, ever since she could talk. For every sentence that Gabriella said she always had five sentences to follow.

"I'll ask my mom Pey, one second."

Gabriella knew that her mom loved to go to the Bolton's house. Ever since she and Troy became friends, Maria and Lucille seemed to form a bond.

"Hey mama, would you mind if we go to the Bolton's for dinner? Peyton is on the phone and Lucille invited us over."

"Sure honey, tell Peyton that we'll bring some dessert over too."

If there was one thing that Maria loved besides her daughter, it was baking. The house always smelled like cookies or pies whenever Gabriella came home with a friend afterschool.

"Pey, we'll be over around 4:30. See you then, bye."

Gabriella was overly excited to go to the Boltons, but for the rest of the day she planned to spend some quality time with her mother that was long over due.

**Sorry it took so long to update. Between redoing my room and midterms i've had no time! Let me know what you guys think, reviews really help!**


	4. Chapter 4

Promises are Forever

~NOTE: I do not own any of the characters or disney.

Chapter Four

Her stomach was in knots. It wasn't the first time that her stomach had been in knots while walking up the Bolton's front steps. This was just a regular visit, not anything special. It wasn't like Troy was waiting inside for her at the door.

Maria and Gabriella got onto the front porch. Gabriella knocked, then opened the door. She had been to the Bolton's so many times that they told her just to come in. The door was always open. With so many kids constantly coming and going, Lucille got tired of unlocking the door after Peyton and Tyler became of age to go outside by themselves.

Gabriella hoisted the bag of cookies and peanut butter pie higher on her shoulder and walked in. The house smelled of vanilla candles and sauteed green beans. Jack Bolton was sitting on the couch watching some sports game on tv. She figured that it was basketball, the Bolton family's favorite sport.

"Hey Coach, we're here.", Gabriella said over the roar of the tv.

"Gabriella, Maria, so good to see you guys. Wow, Gab, you look great, you too Maria!" Jack was always one to complement the Montez women as soon as they walked into the room.

"GABRIELLA!" Peyton's voice echoed throughout the whole house. She ran down the staircase and practically ran Gabriella over. "It's so good to see you. I missed you so much!", she said while pressing her face into Gabriella's grey jacket.

"I missed you too Pey, where's your mom? I'm going to go say hi to her before you drag me up into your room."

"I think she's in the kitchen. I'll go get her." Peyton's little body darted into the kitchen and came back 30 seconds later, dragging Lucille Bolton behind her.

"Oh Gabriella, Maria, it's been too long.", she said as she hugged both of them.

"I'll be in the kitchen with Lucille, Gabi.", her mother told her as both of the mothers walked down the hallway into the kitchen.

"Let's go upstairs, i redid my room! Now it's blue and green and purple and," Peyton continued talking as they walked up the large staircase to the second floor of the house.

The Bolton house was huge. There were three floors, a two car garage, and a huge backyard containing a half basketball court and a built in swimming pool. The living room, kitchen, dining room, and office were on the first floor. All of their bedrooms were on the second floor. Luckily, they had five bedrooms so each child could have their own room. Peyton's room was across from Lucille and Jack's room and next to Tyler's room. Further down the hallway were Troy and Mark's rooms. Gabriella spent many hours in Troy's large bedroom. He had pretty much everything a teenage boy would want. They also spent a lot of time on the third floor. The third floor was the ultimate hang out spot. There was a large flat screen tv, tons of board games, a mini fridge, a microwave, and a large comfy sofa.

Everyday afterschool from sixth grade to senior year, Troy and Gabriella would go up there and do their homework together. They were both on the same academic level, Gabriella just a little bit smarter than Troy, and would mostly have the same homework. Gabriella really didn't want to go upstairs with Peyton. Being up there without Troy would break her heart.

She walked into Peyton's room and smiled. Peyton was such a happy girl, considering the circumstances of her older brother. Gabriella looked around at all of her pictures. They were mostly of Peyton and her friends at parties, or hanging out on the third floor.

"Gabi, I want to show you something. I was kinda bored last week, and I was really missing you and Troy, so I made you a scrapbook. I hope you like it. No one knows that I did this, so you can show them later if you want to."

Gabriella took the scrapbook from Peyton. The book itself was a shade of aqua, her and Troy's favorite color. Ever since they first became friends in fourth grade they both always loved that color. The picture on the cover was from their high school graduation. Little eight year old Peyton was sitting on Troy's shoulders with his graduation cap on her head. Gabriella was standing infront of Troy with his arms wrapped around her stomach. It was the perfect picture for the cover of their scrapbook.

As Gabriella flipped through the pages, memories filled into her head. Their first school play, their field trip to the Grand Canyon, their first date, and other memories. The last page in the scrapbook was of Gabriella and Troy, but the picture was different than the other ones. This was a picture taken on Troy's birthday this past April. April 17th to be exact.

_Gabriella woke up late on April 17th. Tears flooded into her eyes the moment she turned on her phone and looked at the date. It was Troy's 24th birthday. As soon as she realized that she was going to be late for work, Gabriella slipped on a pair of black dress pants and a random shirt from her closet. Putting makeup on would be a bad idea, considering she knew that she would be crying all day. _

_She locked up the apartment and drove to the law firm. All she wanted to do was to be sitting at home, alone, with her favorite picture of Troy next to her side. She knew that she had to go to the hospital today, but also knew that Troy's family would be there too. Gabriella hated crying infront of them, expecially Peyton, even though they were all feeling the same way._

_Work was a boring day. Gabriella didn't feel like doing anything. When her boss walked into her office and saw the tears falling down Gabriella's innocent face, she let her leave. She drove to her mother's house and walked upstairs to her old room. Maria wasn't home and the place was awfully quiet. A few hours passed before her mother came home to find her daughter in a puddle of tears on her bed._

_"It's ok baby, everything will be alright. Do you think Troy would want you like this right now? Let's go over to the Bolton's house. I bet Peyton would love you to be there." As always, her mother's calming voice convinced Gabriella to go to the Bolton's. They walked inside to find Lucille crying on the couch and Peyton watching from the staircase._

_"Hey Pey," Gabriella said to the mortified girl as she watched her mother crumble to pieces, "let's go upstairs."_

_The two girls walked into Peyton's room and stayed there for hours. Peyton cried in Gabriella's arms. She was glad that she could be there for Peyton, because her mother was in no condition to support her daughter. _

_At 6:00pm the Bolton and Montez families drove over to the hospital to visit Troy. Lucille and Jack went into the room first, followed by Mark, then Tyler. Peyton wanted Gabriella to come in with her, and she couldn't say no._

Thinking about Peyton's words to Troy broke her heart. She had so many feelings tucked up in her head, Gabriella wondered how she didn't have a breakdown.

_"Hey big bro," Peyton started talking to Troy, "I really miss you. Do you remember when I was little and you would pick me up and run me around the yard like I was flying? I got an A on my math test last week. It was pretty hard, but dad helped me understand it. Gabriella is here too. She came over today. Please get better soon, I miss you so much. I want my brother ba..." Peyton never finished her sentence before she broke down. She fell in tears onto Troy's stomach, where she hugged him and tried to finish her sentence. Gabriella walked over to Peyton and tried to pick her up from off of Troy. _

_"I'm sorry," she said, "I just couldn't finish. Thanks for being there Gabi."_

_After those words, Gabriella started crying. She hugged Peyton as they both sat down on the end of Troy's hospital bed. They sat there for ten minutes, until Peyton calmed herself down. _

_"Gabi, can I take a picture of you and Troy? I just want him to know that we were here for him, you know?" Gabriella couldn't resist. She laid down next to Troy and kissed his cheek as Peyton snapped a picture._

"Wow, Pey. I love it. Thank you, so much." Gabriella hugged Peyton and saw a tear form in her innocent blue eyes.

"I'm glad you like it. I just missed him, and you, and you know."

Gabriella completely understood her. "Hey Pey, I think dinner's ready. Let's go eat."

They walked down the stairs to find all of the Bolton's, minus Peyton and Troy, sitting at the table along with her mother. They ate a wonderful meal, as always. Tyler finished first and practically ran back to his room. Peyton looked worried as she turned to look at Gabriella. Something was going on with Tyler and it was bothering Peyton.

After dessert Lucille walked up to Gabriella. "Gabriella, do you want to sleep over? I think Peyton needs someone, i'm not sure what's bothering her and she won't tell me. Maybe you can help her."

"I'd be delighted to,"she responded. Gabriella still had a ton of sick days and her boss was very understanding.

For the rest of the night, Lucille, Jack, Maria, Gabriella, and Peyton watched old home movies. They ranged from Troy's potty training video, to Peyton and Tyler's graduation.

When it was time for Maria to leave and everyone to go to bed, Gabriella walked with Peyton up to her room.

"Is something bothering you Pey, you looked worried when Tyler left before." She didn't mean to just go into the subject, but it just came out.

"I think Tyler is hiding something from us. He's been acting really strange these past few months. I'm not sure if it's because of Troy's accident, or girl problems. I don't think that he has a girlfriend, and i know that he's not doing drugs. I just don't know what's going on with him. Wait, nope." Peyton continued thinking, but nothing came to her mind.

"Does he ever start to act strange when you mention anything about Troy, or anyone else?"

"Troy? I don't think that's been it. I mean we're all sad but he was the first one to kinda return to normal after his accident. He does give me this look when I mention your name though. And he hasn't been down all day. Maybe he likes you!"

The thought of Troy's baby brother liking her made Gabriella laugh. He always was shy around her. Maybe Tyler did like her, or maybe it was something deeper than that.

"I think im going to go talk to him, I haven't really had a conversation with him since your graduation party."

"Good luck." said Peyton as Gabriella walked out of the room and down the hallway to Tyler's door.

She knocked on the door, nervous about what was going to happen in a few seconds.

Tyler opened the door and gave Gabriella a look that no one ever gave her before. He didn't look happy or mad.

"Hey Gabriella. May I ask why knocked on my door?" Peyton was right. He seemed different, but in a weird way.

"I was wondering if I could talk to you, actually."

"Sure, I guess. Come in."

Tyler's room was a red color. There were trophies along all of the shelves. Most of them were for basketball, with a few baseball ones as well. There was a few picture frames on his bookshelf. One of his family, one of him and Troy, and one of him and his basketball team. Nothing was out of the ordinary in his room. It looked exactly like Troy's room had when they were 15.

"So, um," Gabriella began, "how's your summer been?" She knew that she sounded dumb, but there was no other way to start to find out what was troubling him.

"Alright, I guess. Mark has been over a few times with Kendra. She's having a baby."

"Oh really, that's great!" Gabriella completly forgot that Mark wasn't home while she had been there. He was 27 now, and had been married for two years now. Mark and Kendra were high school sweethearts, but she always thought that they seemed awkward whenever her and Troy were around them.

"I guess so. Do you miss Troy?"

Gabriella was not expecting this to come from Tyler's mouth. "Yeah, all the time. It's been pretty hard these last few months."

"Yeah, does Peyton seem okay? She isn't really sad ever, you know."

"She's fine, she said she's usually ok. That's kind of funny that you asked me about her, cause she's worried about you."

Tyler looked dissapointed. "Worried about me? Im fine, I really am, i'm not sure why she would be, be, be..." He broke down in tears. Gabriella was astonished.

She moved over next to Tyler on his bed and hugged him. The poor kid was so worried about his little sister that he didn't notice that he began to shut himself away in his room. Lucille and Jack must have thought that it was just a phase, but Peyton knew that something was wrong.

"It's okay Ty. You don't have to worry about Peyton. She's fine, I promise. Tyler looked up at her with his tear soaked eyes.

"It's just that Mark has his own family now and Troy isn't here. I just feel like I have to protect Peyton now that they're not around, and I thought that I was doing a bad job. You were always there for Peyton, like a big sister. She would always come to you for those problems. Then you wern't here for almost three months and I didn't know what to say to her. I'm glad you and Troy became friends because you're everything that Peyton could have ever wanted. I just hope that Troy gets better soon, i've been lost without him. I didn't think I needed him as much as I do, I just can't take it. "

Gabriella held Tyler tighter in her arms. She didn't really think that Tyler was ever hurting. Peyton was fine, but she was a naturally happy girl, and she had Gabriella to text when she was upset or lonely. Tyler had no one. She understood that talking to your parents wasn't the same as talking to a sibling, and none of his friend would provide the support that he needed.

"I know how you feel Ty. My dad died when I was seven, and I had no one to turn to. But then I met Troy, and he lit up my life. He was the best friend and brother that I never had. I miss him too." Gabriella was suprised that she didn't start crying after mentioning the two men she loved most in the world. "You can call me whenever you need someone to talk to Ty, i'll always be there to listen. If you need anything i'll come over."

He looked up at Gabriella and smiled, just like he used to when they were both a lot younger.

"Thanks Gabi," was all that he said as she let go of him and walked out of the room. Life seemed a lot brighter. She just helped a boy that was hurting and needed someone to talk to.

Gabriella walked down the hallway to Peyton's room. She was asleep with a picture of Troy and the bear that he had gave her on her eighth birthday. Gabriella pulled the covers up over Peyton and turned off the light.

The house was silent, except from the usual snoring coming from Jack Bolton. Gabriella walked down the hall to Mark's room. She opened the door to find the room empty, except for a king sized bed. They only needed a bed, she figured. She closed Mark's door and opened Troy's. Everything was the same as it always was. All of the things that Troy actually needed were at their apartment, like his good clothes and cologne. Whenever they came to visit, both him and Gabriella would stay in his room. It was the perfect place for the two of them to be alone. They had numerous conversations in here, and tons of memories.

Gabriella put on a pair of Troy's old sweats and a t-shirt that he slept in when he visited his parents. It felt so good to be in here. Troy spent most of his life sleeping in this room, and spending time with Gabriella. As she laid down in his bed, she looked at the numerous pictures all around his mirror and on his nightstand. Most of them were of him and Gabriella, with the exception of some family pictures and high school basketball photos.

The picture that stood out the most was one taken in their junior year of high school.

_It was a sunny September day. Troy and Gabriella just came back upstairs after playing outside with Tyler and Peyton. They were both exhausted and laid down on the cool floor next to each other._

_"You gotta love those two kids." Troy said inbetween long breaths._

_"Yeah, I have no idea how your mother survived with four children."_

_"Five, you practically live here, but Maria is like a second mother so I guess it balances out."_

_The two of them sat there laughing and poking each other for ten minutes or so._

_"Ella, I don't know what I would do without you."_

_She hadn't expected him to say this. Ever since she had broke her arm that past summer, she felt something new between her and Troy. They were still best friends, but something else was there. Troy started to act different. She liked it, but didn't want to tell him how she felt about him in case he didn't feel the same. The last thing that she wanted to do was to wreck their friendship of eight years._

_"Same here Troy, you changed my life. If you hadn't talked to me on that day in fourth grade I would have been friendless and alone in my room doing homework like the nerd that I am."_

_"Ella, I like you, more than a friend. We get along so well, it's like we were destined for each other."_

_She didn't know what to say, she liked him too, but didn't want to sound corny._

_"I feel the same way Troy. I like you too."_

_He leaned towards her and kissed her soft lips. It was a short kiss, but it meant the world to both of them. Just at that moment, little Tyler ran into the room. He had a look of suprise and dissapointment, but at that moment in time, all Gabriella cared about was Troy._

**Sorry it's been so long since I uploaded a new chapter. So what do you guys think? I start writing and I can't stop! Please, please, please review! I want to know what you guys think! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Promises are Forever

NOTE~I do not own any of the characters or disney.

Chapter Five

It was 7:03am. Gabriella looked around, confused as to where she was. It didn't seem real. Was she really laying in Troy's bed? Was he here? No, he wasn't there. He would have had his arms wrapped around her petit body and her head would have been resting on his warm chest insted of his floppy pillow.

The door opened and Peyton walked in. She looked sleepy, but was one of those girls that always looked pretty no matter the circumstances.

"Good morning Gabriella, how'd you sleep last night?"

"Very well, actually," she loved sleeping in Troy's bed. It was the perfect level comfort and warmth," I loved sleeping in this bed. It was always a great night's sleep."

"Hey Gabi, can I ask you something? I've just been curious, you don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable."

Gabriella contemplated all of the things Peyton could possibly want to know about. Maybe how she felt about aTroy, or maybe it was something serious. Was it about her talk last night with Tyler? "Sure Pey," was all that would come out of her mouth.

"Alright, so I know that you miss Troy as much as us, but I was wondering if you could tell me about how you guys met. I was only a baby, and you were just always there."

Gabriella took a deep breath, and told her the story. Peyton laughted and smiled at the thought of her big brother as a fourth grader trying to make friends.

"Wow, he was such a tool as a little kid," Peyton giggled, "but what about a time when you thought that you guys wern't going to be friends anymore, like your biggest fight. I'm sorry, I just was thinking about this kind of stuff while you were talking to Tyler last night."

"Hmm, our biggest fight," Gabriella couldn't think straight. Her and Troy's biggest fight. It wasn't the time that she broke her arm. After that they became closer. Suddenly, the second worst memory in her mind popped into view. The first was after her mother told her that her father died. But the second made her tear up thinking about it.

"Well, Pey, it was a..."

_It was a warm evening during the summer going into their freshman year in college. Troy and Gabriella had planned to go to the park for a picnic after his summer basketball league was over. She was waiting at her front door to see Troy's old beat up truck drive up and stop in front of her house. He never came. This worried Gabriella. Maybe he just forgot, or was held up at the courts. _

_Gabriella called Troy's phone. No one picked up. Should she go to the park and wait for him? "Wait," she thought out loud, "Troy was at the park playing basketball. I'll just go see him there." _

_Gabriella got the keys to her car and drove down the street. She should probually go to the Bolton's house first, just in case he was running late. After pulling up in front of their house, Gabriella became worried. His truck wasn't there. She decided to stick with her first theory and drove to the park. _

_There sat Troy's junky old truck. He was sitting inside of it. Gabriella walked up to the window of his truck and looked inside. What she saw tore her heart out. She felt like someone took a punch to her stomach._

_Troy was inside of the car, but with another girl. A girl that Gabriella hadn't recognized. She decided to watch what they were doing for a while. Maybe he was giving her directions, or a ride home._

_The truck started and Gabriella jumped back. Troy didn't notice that she was standing next to the window, and drove away. Gabriella followed the truck, trying to figure out what was going on. They kept driving until they arrived at an abandoned parking lot a mile or so away from the center of town. _

_Gabriella only saw Troy's shirt come off and she knew what was going down. He was cheating on her with some blonde girl. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't. The perfect night was turning into the worst. Gabriella tried to get out of the car to stop what was going on, but she couldn't do it. She cried, and cried, and cried. Looking forward, she saw Troy look in the rear view mirror, turn to the girl, and put his shirt back on._

_Gabriella didn't want to talk to him, or even look at him. Just as Troy started to get out of the car, she put her foot on the gas and sped away. She didn't want to go home, so she drove to the cemetary where her dad was buried. _

_She got out of the car and ran to her dad's grave. "Daddy," she uttered between sobs," I miss you so much. I need you here right now. You would go hurt him right now, after making me feel this way." Gabriella hugged the gravestone and laid down on the grass, right next to where his body was under the dirt._

_Gabriella cried. She didn't know what to do. The sky was getting darker and darker. Her mother wasn't worrying about her, probually because she was supposed to be with Troy. Troy was supposed to protect her, to comfort her, and to love her._

_"Ella! Ella! Ella are you here?" was all she heard. It was Troy. He was looking for her, but she didn't want to be found. "Oh Ella, I, I, I, I don't know what to say. I know you probually hate me right now, but can I explain myself first?"_

_"NO, no, you, you," she tried to spit out," you finished it. This is what you wanted, right? You didn't want to go on a little picnic, you wanted to do something more."_

_"No Ella, I don't even know her.."_

_"That makes it even worse!"_

_"That's not what I meant, she isn't important. I love you, not her. She wanted directions and she made me drive to that parking lot. We didn't do anything. She tried to kiss me but I didn't let her._

_"I don't believe you. You took your shirt off and put it back on when you saw my car."_

_She didn't get to finish her sentence. Tears were streaming down her face. Troy sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around her body. The pretty sundress that she was wearing was ruined. Her relationship with Troy was probually ruined._

_"Ella, listen to me. Nothing happened. I'm sorry, I know what it looked like to you. Im so, so sorry..." He never finished his sentence. Gabriella looked up into Troy's big blue eyes. He was crying too. They sat together and cried in each other's arms for hours._

Gabriella started crying, but didn't even notice. She had cried so much in the past five months she didn't realize when it happened. Peyton sat there, astonished. She didn't know what to think. Could her big brother have the capability to make Gabriella cry like that?

"What happened after that," Peyton whispered,"you too did get back together."

"Yeah," Gabriella sighed," but it was hard, really hard."

_"Ella, i'll call my parents. My mom can drive your car home. I want to drive you home."_

_Gabriella nodded as Troy picked her distressed body. They walked to his truck. She laid down on the seat and placed her head in his lap. Troy sat there. She didn't know what was going through his head, but whatever it was it must have been bad._

_He kept saying, "Im sorry Ella," over and over again as he brushed the tears from her cheeks. She knew that he meant it. Gabriella had never been so upset because of Troy's actions. He was guilty and couldn't find a way to make it up to her._

_"Ella," he whispered," I love you. I always will love you, I hope you know that. I promise that i'll never hurt you again. I can't stand to watch you cry, it tears me apart inside. This promise is forever, forever and always. I promise that i'll always love you."_

_Jack and Lucille showed up in the family's van. Jack motioned for Troy to get out of the truck, but he didn't want to. He just wanted to be there for Gabriella. He just made a huge mistake and wanted to prove to her that he still loved her._

_"Troy, get out of the truck, now." Jack bellowed. _

_Lucille looked heartbroken. Gabriella was like her second daughter. She loved Gabriella and always wanted the best for her._

_"Jack, wait," Lucille whispered to her husband," just leave them. We can talk to Troy later. I think he's punishing himself more than we could have punished him. Just look at Gabriella. He knows that he messed up. I'll drive Gabriella's car home. They'll come back eventually."_

_Jack nodded and walked away. Troy and Gabriella sat there for an hour or longer, until they realized that it was getting late._

_"Ella, can you sit up so I can drive us home, God forbid we get into an accident or something."_

"That's it, you guys just sat in that truck?"

"Things just wern't the same for a month or too. He didn't try to quickly mend our relationship. Once college started, we went our seperate ways. I guess college was a good thing. We both realized that we needed each other, and got back together. We would see each other every day that we could."

"Oh," Peyton whispered,"i'm glad you guys got back together though. Well, i'm going to go downstairs. I think mom made french toast."

Gabriella nodded and watched as Peyton left the room. She seemed worried, even though she knew then ending to the story.

The smell of Lucille's amazing french toast drifted upstairs. Gabriella couldn't resist, so she put her hair up in a bun and went downstairs to meet the Bolton's for breakfast.

"Good morning Gabriella! How did you sleep last night?" Lucille smiled as Gabriella walked into the kitchen.

"Great, I always get a great night's sleep here. Peyton," Peyton looked back at her with a sad look on her face," let's go outside and get the paper for your dad."

Gabriella walked out of the kitchen and Peyton followed.

"Pey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, i'm fine." Gabriella could see that she was anything but fine.

"Peyton, just tell me what's bothering you. You can talk to me."

"Well, it's just that I thought that everything between you and Troy was always like a fairytale. I never knew that he could hurt you. He always protected you. Some nights I would see him leave in the middle of the night. I knew he was going to your house."

"Pey, no relationship is ever perfect. Troy and I just were lucky that we never really got into fights, mainly because we were best friends before we even started dating. I talked to Tyler last night. He said that he felt like he was doing a bad job of being your big brother. He was worried that because Mark and Troy wern't around that he wasn't doing a good enough job of protecting you."

"Really?" Peyton's eyes flashed up from the sidewalk to Gabriella's eyes. "He was worried about me? I've been worried about him. I'm going to go talk to him. Thanks Gabi, you really don't know how much you mean to this family."

Gabriella picked up the paper and walked inside. If only Troy was here. They all needed him. She needed him.

"Lucille, I was wondering if you would mind if I took Peyton and Tyler to the hospital to go visit Troy. I think they both need to see him."

"Sure Gabriella, that would be great. Jack and I have some house work to do today. I'm sure that they would appreciate that."

Gabriella told the twins that she would take them to see their big brother. They both smiled and ran to get dressed. After all the memories that she had dug up from her mind, she really wanted to see Troy. Hopefully, today would be a great day.

**Hey guys! Lots of flashbacks in this chapter, haha. Please, please, please review. I have lots of good things planned for the next few chapters, some good and bad! I'd love to know what you guys think, and know that someone is actually reading what I put so much time into writing. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Promises are Forever

NOTE~I do not own any of the character or Disney.

Chapter 6

"Which room is it again? We haven't been here in a while, with mom and dad working and stuff." Peyton looked excited to see her brother again, but scared at the same time.

"Down to the right, follow me guys." Gabriella knew this hospital very well, expecially after all of the times she had been there to visit Troy.

The three of them walked down the hallway to Troy's room. Gabriella twisted the doorknob and opened the door.

"Hey Tro-, Gabriella where's Troy?" Peyton looked up at her with a confused and terrified look in her eyes.

"He was here yesterday, and this is his room. I'll go ask the doctors. Maybe he woke up overnight. You guys just wait here, i'll be right back."

Gabriella walked out of the room and towards the main desk.

"Hi, i'm Gabriella Montez. I'm here to see Troy Bolton, but he isn't in his room. We never recieved a call from the hospital about his changed condition."

"Troy Bolton, Troy Bolton," the lady at the desk clicked on her computer a couple times," ah, Troy Alexander Bolton. He was moved to the intensive care unit last night after the doctors had a problem with something. I'm sorry Miss Montez, but you cannot visit him in there."

Gabriella's heart sunk. The one day she really needed to visit him was the day that he was transported into the intensive care unit. What was she going to tell Tyler and Peyton. They were probually sitting in Troy's old room, confused out of their little 15 year old minds.

She walked back down the hallway and opened the door. "Guys, Troy was moved to the intensive care unit last night. The doctors had some problems with him. We can't visit him in there."

Tyler seemed to understand but Peyton was the exact opposite.

"I, I can't see Troy? But, bu-" and she ran out of the room.

"Peyton! Come back." Tyler ran down the hallway after his sister, followed by Gabriella.

Peyton ran, and ran, and ran, until she arrived at the big doors labeled "Intensive Care Unit". She burst through the door and kept running. Tyler looked back at Gabriella.

"You got her Tyler, be the big brother you told me about last night." He nodded and went to retrieve Peyton.

Suddenly, Peyton stopped running and turned to a door with the file "Bolton, Troy Alexander" She opened the door and found her big brother hooked up to many more machines than the last time that she visited him.

"Pey, we're gonna get in so much trouble! We need to leave here now."

"No," Peyton sobbed as she hugged Troy,"I can't leave him here."

She was finally starting to crack. After all of those months of being the happy girl that she was, Peyton couldn't do it anymore.

Tyler walked over to Peyton and hugged his little sister. " I miss him too, but he will get better. He wouldn't leave us, or Mark, or mom and dad, or Gabriella." He looked back at Gabriella and motioned for her to come over.

"Pey, I miss him too, but eventually someone is going to find us in here, and we'll get kicked out of the hospital. We can talk in the wating room, but now, we need to leave him." Gabriella started to gather tears in her eyes, but quickly wiped them away.

Peyton stood up and hugged Tyler. "Let's go Peyton, just do what Gabriella said."

The three of them walked out of Troy's room, but not before Gabriella could kiss him one last time before they left. "I love you, wildcat." She whispered into his ear. "You can do this, you need to get better. Peyton and Tyler need their big brother back, Lucille and Coach need their son back, and I need my Troy back." This time, she couldn't hold back the tears as she left the room. One of them fell onto Troy's face as she pulled away from him.

After luckily not being noticed by any hospital staff in the ICU, they walked back out the big doors.

"Gabriella," Tyler's big blue eyes looked at her," I think we should go home."

He was become more and more like Troy everyday.

**This was a shorter chapter, but I haven't gotten any reviews in a long time. The next chapters will be amazing, but I really don't have any motivation to keep posting them. I know people are reading this story, but I don't know if you guys even like it or not. Please, please, please review! It takes less than a minute and it would mean the world to me! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Promises are Forever

NOTE~ I do not own any of the characters or Disney.

Chapter Seven

Gabriella felt terrible. The poor kids haven't seen their brother in a long time, but when they do see him he's put into the ICU.

They walked into the house. "Back so soon? I thought you guys would have been out for longer." Lucille greeted them with a fresh batch of cookies. She looked at Peyton and motioned for Gabriella to come into the kitchen.

"What happened?" Mrs. Bolton looked worried, but not as worried as she looked after Troy's accident.

"Troy was moved into the ICU last night. The hospital didn't call or anything, so we went into Troy's old room and he wasn't there. I told the twins where he was and Peyton ran out of the room crying. She ran all the way to Troy's room in the ICU and cried over him. Tyler took care of her. I'm so sorry, I wouldn't have taken them if I would have known." Gabriella put her head into her hands and cried.

"Oh honey, it's alright. You didn't know. Did the doctors say why he was put into the ICU?"

"All they said was that they were having problems." Still with her head in her hands, Gabriella cried more.

Lucille hugged Gabriella. "It's ok Gabriella. We all miss him. He's going to get better, I promise. Troy is a fighter, and I know he would never leave you."

"He promised me that he would never leave me, or hurt me. But I think this is out of his control. I'm sorry Lucille, but I have to leave. My mom wanted me to help her with some housework today."

"It's alright honey, you're welcome here anytime you please. I'm sure Peyton and Tyler were glad to see you."

Gabriella tried to smile and walked out of the kitchen and upstairs to Troy's old room to gather her things. On her way back downstairs, she walked into Tyler's room and gave him a big hug.

"You are the greatest big brother Ty." was all that she said after moving on to Peyton's room.

"Pey," she whispered as she walked into Peyton's room," he will get better. Troy's a fighter. He wouldn't leave you. If he knew that you were crying over him, he'd be upset. Love you Pey."

"Oh mama," Gabriella sobbed into her mother's arms," I can't do this anymore. I need him. I can't go back to that apartment alone, and now he's in the ICU. What if he doesn't make it?"

"Gabi, Troy wouldn't leave you like this, not after all that you two have been through."

"I just miss him so much. It felt good sleeping in his room. I felt like he was there, sleeping there next to me."

"Gabi, I know how you feel. Believe me, when your father passed away I couldn't sleep. I thought I couldn't live without him, but I needed to stay strong. I needed to stay strong for you. I guess you have it worse than me. I knew that your father was gone, and wasn't coming back home, but baby I don't know how you're doing this."

"I don't know either. I can't do it for much longer. Mama, I think i'm going to go back to the hospital. If Troy doesn't have a lot of time left, I want to be by his side."

"That's my girl. Be careful driving, and please go back to work tomorrow. You need to make sure you have enough money to live off of." Gabriella hugged her mother and left for the hospital.

Gabriella parked her car at the hospital and made the long walk back to the waiting room. There were not a lot of people sitting in the grey chairs, but she did recognize one person.

"Mark, Mark Bolton?"

He looked up at her. It looked as if he had been crying. "Hey Gabriella. Why are you here?"

"I was going to visit Troy, or at least sit in here. Why are you here?"

"My wife is downstairs at some pregnancy class, but I wanted to be up here, you know, for Troy."

Gabriella hadn't really realized that Mark missed his little brother. She knew that Tyler and Peyton missed him, as well as Lucille and Jack, but not Mark.

"Congradulations, about your wife. Tyler told me last night."

"Thanks." Mark looked so sad. Gabriella wished that she could do something to make him smile. "How are the twins? I haven't visited as much as I would have wanted to."

"Peyton is great, but today she just got really upset over Troy. Tyler was upset for a few weeks, but for other reasons. He told me that he thought that he wasn't being a good enough brother for Peyton. He's fine now, I talked to him last night."

Seeing little Tyler cry last night flooded Gabriella's memory. It made her sad, but then smiled knowing that he was probually sitting with Peyton, comforting her.

"Thats good. Tyler is just growing up to be just like Troy, I guess that's why I haven't been over. Seeing Tyler reminds me of Troy when he was 15, and how I used to constantly tease him."

"Oh Mark, don't start blaming yourself. You guys are brothers. Brothers are supposed to fight and tease each other."

"I know, but it seems like Troy was a lot closer to Tyler and Peyton. Sometimes I wonder if it had been me in the accident, if they would have been as sad. I know Kendra would have been sad, but I don't know about anyone else."

"Everyone would have been sad Mark, you're still their brother and son. I would have even been sad. You're practically my big brother."

This made Mark smile. "You know Gabriella, Troy's really lucky to have you."

"I guess so." Gabriella smiled at the thought of Troy. "I'm going to see if he's still in the ICU. I'll be right back."

Gabriella walked up to the desk. A different woman was at the counter this time.

"How may I help you?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you could tell me if Troy Alexander Bolton was still in the intensive care unit?"

"Bolton, actually, he was just moved back to his regular room. The doctors were just doing some tests on him."

Gabriella's heart jumped. He was okay. He is going to be okay. She thanked the woman and walked back over to Mark's chair.

"He's alright. They moved him out of the ICU, she said they were just doing some tests on him. I guess the other lady didn't know what she was talking about."

"I think i'll come with you. I want to go see him."

The two of them walked down the hallway to see Troy positioned in his hospital bed, just like he had been for months now. Mark smiled as he looked at his brother, but was interrupted by the vibrations of his phone.

"I guess Kendra is done. I'll see you soon Gabs." Mark walked out of the room and left Gabriella alone with Troy.

"Troy," she said as she laid down on his bed next to him," I miss you. I think i'm gonna lay here all day, until the nurses kick me out. Who cares about them though. I'm with you, and that's all that matters. I really wish you would wake up Bolton. We all miss you a lot. Do you remember when we first kissed? I was thinking about that last night." Gabriella looked at his pale face. "I just want to see your big blue eyes again. They remind me of when we used to play in that little blow up pool in your backyard with Peyton and Tyler. Do you remember when we were spying on Mark and Kendra that one time? What weirdos we were."

Gabriella didn't realize that she had been talking to Troy for two hours. She felt a vibration and looked at her phone. Her mother was calling her, probually to make sure that she was ok. The message read:

Mama: Are you alright baby?

She replied with a simple yes, but then realized that she should have probually told her mother that Troy was out of the ICU. Just then it hit her, Peyton. She called Peyton's phone.

"Hey Gabriella."

"Hey Peyton, how are you?"

"Alright. Do you need something."

"Actually, I called to tell you that Troy is out of the ICU, ask your mom if she can drive you over here. He's fine and I thought that you might want to see him."

"Are you serious Gabi! I'll be over right away!" Peyton hung the phone up. Gabriella smiled. She was glad that Peyton was happy. She couldn't stand seeing her sad.

"Troy, we only have a few minutes alone until your mom and Peyton come over." She kissed his forehead, right where her tear had falled hours before. I love you wildcat, i'll always love you, I promise. I can't wait until you wake up, then we can go back home, and get married, and start a family, and Troy-." Gabriella thought she saw a smirk come onto his face. "Troy? Did you just smile at me? If you can hear me smile again." Once again, the smirk came onto his face.

Was this really happening? Was she actually communicating with Troy? Was he going to wake up any second now?

"Troy, I love you. Please open your eyes." She kissed his forehead once again, then kissed his lips. The smile emerged once again to his face. "Come on Bolton, stop playing with me."

Just then, the door flew open and Peyton stopped in her tracks. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at Gabriella, then to Troy, then back to Gabriella.

"Pey, I think he's starting to wake up."

Peyton didn't move. She didn't know if she was dreaming.

"Watch, hey Troy, your mom and sister are here. Peyton is here to see you."

Troy's finger started to move. The feeling was coming back into his body. Lucille Bolton walked into the room. She stared at all three of them.

"Mom," Peyton whispered," Troy, he's back, he's waking up. Gabriella did it."

Lucille smiled as hot tears started to run down her face.

"Troy," Gabriella said once again, "keep trying to move. Soon, you'll be able to open your eyes. You'll be able to see me, Peyton, and your mom again. Come on wildcat, you can do this."

Troy moved his wrist, then his elbow, then his whole right arm.

"Come on wildcat, you can't hug your little sister with one arm. Try to move the other one."

He did exactly what Gabriella told him to do.

"Alright Troy, now try to move your mouth. You're probually thirsty."

His lips seperated a tiny bit. Gabriella smiled. She had probually smiled more today than any other day in the past five months. She leaned over him and kissed his lips.

"That'll make you move, haha."

Peyton stood there, unable to talk or cry. Lucille just watched as her son was finally coming back to life. Clearly, his personality hadn't changed.

Gabriella took a large breath. "Alright Bolton, now try to open your eyes. I know how much you want to see us."

A miracle was happening right before their very eyes. Troy Bolton scrunched his eyes shut, then slowly opened them. Gabriella couldn't help but cry. There they were, those big blue eyes. He was finally awake. They could finally go home soon.

"I love you Ella."

They all stood there, frozen. Gabriella looked down at Troy. "I love you too Troy. I missed you, we all missed you, but now you're back. You're finally back." They hugged. Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's tiny body.

"Troy, I think someone else needs to see you." Gabriella looked to Peyton and motioned for her to go see Troy.

"Hi Troy. I missed you." Peyton couldn't believe this was actually happening.

"I'm sorry Pey, i love you little sis." Troy smiled at Peyton. She hugged him and quietly cried tears of joy.

"Mom," Troy tried to call out," mom, i'm so sorry."

"Oh Troy, don't be sorry for anything. You're alive and speaking to us, that's all that matters. Peyton, lets go call your father and get Troy some water."

"Mark," Gabriella quickly said, "don't forget about Mark. He was just here with Kendra and was really upset."

Lucille nodded as she walked out of the room with Peyton.

"Oh Troy, I can't believe this is happening. Did you hear all of the things that I was saying to you?"

"Yeah. I don't really know what happened, it felt like my ears turned back on. Before, when you were here, well at least I thought it was you, I felt something wet hit my forehead, then I felt you kiss my head. When you came back you kissed that same exact spot. I focused on regaining feeling in that spot, and soon enough everything came into focus. You saved me Gabriella."

Gabriella cried as she staired into Troy's eyes. He looked back at her and wrapped his arms around her body once again. This was the best feeling in the world. From this moment on, nothing mattered to either of them. They were together, finally.

**HDKJFHKJFHDHAHH! I'm so happy about how this chapter turned out! Please keep reviewing! It's good to know that all my hard work actually means something to someone! There's more good stuff to come in the next few chapters! :) **


	8. Chapter 8

Promises are Forever

NOTE~ I do not own any of the characters or Disney.

Chapter Eight

"Mr. Bolton," the doctor said as he looked at Troy," this was a miracle. Can you feel everything in your body, and can you move anything you want to?"

Troy laughed and raised his eyebrows. "I feel fine Doc. It just felt like i've been sleeping for a long time."

The doctor looked at Troy and smiled," Must be some girl you have here, not many people just wake up from a coma like that." Gabriella giggled and looked at Troy. The doctor gave Gabriella and Troy an approving nod and walked out of the room.

"Ella, I don't even know what to say to you. Was it hard these past few months?"

Gabrialla shrugged. She didn't want to tell Troy about the countless days and nights that she laid in their bed and cried onto his pillow. "It was hard.", was all she said.

"Montez, you know if you don't tell me the truth I will go and ask Maria."

"Come on Bolton, using my own mother against me? I guess that's something you would do though." She snickered as Troy gave her a little shove. "You want to know how i've been these months? Terrible. I've cried everyday since your accident. Somedays it was just a tear, other days i've fallen to the ground because I was crying so hard. But you're here with me now, and none of that matters anymore."

"Ella, i'm so sorry." was all he could say before Gabriella interrupted him.

"Troy, it wasn't your fault. The other man is in jail and he's gonna be there for the rest of his life."

"No Ella, that's not it. I promised you that I would never hurt you again. Clearly, you were hurting for what, five months? That's time lost that we'll never get back."

"I guess that means that we'll just have to live longer." She said as she kissed him. "I'm so glad I can finally talk to you again. Talking to someone who doesn't respond isn't very interesting."

Troy squeezed Gabriella and tightened his grip around her.

"My mom is gonna be back soon with everyone else. Ella can you promise me something? While i'm here at the hospital until i'm released, will you stay with me all the time?"

"Honestly Troy, I was planning to do that even if you wanted me to leave at all. You really think i'd leave you after i've had to do that for five months? The apartment must look like a pigsty, but i'll clean it when we go home. Do you want to stay at your parents house for a little while before we go back?"

"I really don't care where we go, as long as i'm with you."

Peyton walked into the room with a shopping bag. "Here Troy, there's some water and snacks in here. Gabriella, I brought the scrapbook over. I'd thought that would be something you guys can look through while you're waiting for everyone to come over here."

"Oh Pey," Gabriella said looking at Peyton," that's an amazing idea. I bet Troy would love to see this."

"Well, im going to leave you two alone. See you later." Peyton said as she walked out of the room.

"Alright Montez, let's see this scrapbook."

They flipped through the pages, cracking jokes at each other and reminiscing childhood memories.

"Ha! Ella do you remember when we were playing in the backyard and you tripped and fell into that mud pile?"

"Oh, that time that I ruined my new sundress and my mom was furious?"

"I guess so, but you gotta admit, that was so funny."

"Excuse me Bolton, that was not funny. I got mud in my mouth and up my nose. That's disgusting."

"Ooh, mud. OMG that's so disgusting." Troy said as he tried his best to imitate Gabriella's voice.

"I will leave Bolton. Promises can be broken."

"Ok, fine. I'll be nice, but come on? How many people that you know actually joke around with you? No one, because you're too nice."

"Hmm, I guess you're right. But you're the only person I will punch in the stomach on a regular basis."

"Hey, i'm up for anything as long as im with you." Troy laughed. It felt good to laugh and play around with Gabriella. There was a point in his life where he couldn't do that, after she had seen him in his truck with that dumb girl.

"Hey, so I hear my son is awake?" Jack said as he walked into the room. He walked over to Troy's bed and gave his son a hug. "It's great to be able to talk to you again, bud."

Jack stepped back so Tyler could go see Troy. "Hey Troy." Tyler said as he gave his big brother a hug. "I'm so glad that you're back."

"It's great to see you little man. How have you been? Is school out? Man, I don't even know what month it is, let alone what day it is."

"I've been good, and its summer. It's July 27th, a Monday."

"No way. Oh my God, Ella. I missed your birthday."

"Troy, you missed your own birthday too, it's no big deal." Gabriella said with a shrug. She hadn't even realized that it was her birthday until her mother called to wish her a 'Happy Birthday'.

Tyler hugged his brother again and wished Troy and Gabriella a good night. She looked at Troy in suprise. "Is it really night time?" Gabriella asked Troy.

"How am I supposed to know? I've been sleeping for five months." Troy tried to get out of his bed, but he still felt a little weak. "Ella, can you go check outside. I would, but if my legs collapse I know you wouldn't be able to pick me up and I really don't want that doctor touching me."

"Weak am I? Ok Bolton, i'll remember that." she said as she moved the blinds to the side. "Yeah, it's night. It's probually about seven or eight. Do you want anything to eat?"

"Naah, i'm actually kinda tired. The doctor probually wants me to rest. Ella, after I fall asleep, and you're positive im sleeping, can you go ask the doctor when i'm allowed to go home. I guess we should go back to my parent's house. It would be easier that way."

"Anything for the famous Troy Bolton." she said in an exaggerated expression as she kissed his head.

Gabriella turned the lights off in the room and snuggled under the covers in Troy's bed. She knew that she wasn't going to fall asleep at all tonight. Troy was actually awake. Even if he was just sleeping, she knew that he would wake up the next morning.

"Doctor," Gabriella said as she walked up to the man," Troy is sleeping now, but he wanted me to ask you when he would be able to go home."

"Since he is responding so well, I plan on discharging him on Wednesday."

"That's great! Thank you so much."

"Thank you Miss Montez, you cured one of our patients."

Gabriella smiled at the doctor and walked back to Troy's room.

"Troy, I love you." she said to the sleeping Troy, "We'll be out of here before you know it."

Troy was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, just like the doctor had said. He and Gabriella spent all of Tuesday sitting in his hospital room, with occasional breaks to take walks around the hallways. Troy was beginning to be able to stand on his own again, with the not so much needed help of Gabriella.

"Alright Troy," Gabriella said as they drove out of the hospital parking garage," Do you want to go anywhere special or do you want to just go back to your parent's house?"

" I wouldn't mind going to Vin's for a burger first. I never realized how nasty hospital food actually is."

Gabriella turned onto Swift Drive and pulled into the Vin's parking lot. Vin's had great food, not to mention all of the memories that they had there.

_"Do you actually want to stay here?" Gabriella asked Troy. They were at their homecoming dance. "Everyone is leaving and I really don't want to go home."_

_"My mom isn't expecting me home until 11:30; we still have two hours until I need to be home. Do you want to go to Vin's?"_

_"Sure." Gabriella knew that Troy was always hungry. No meal ever satisfied his hunger._

_They drove down Swift Drive and parked in the same spot that Troy always parked at. He would position his car so that Gabriella wouldn't be able to get out of the car. There was a long row of bushes that blocked the door from even opening._

_"Really, Bolton? Why do you always do that?"_

_"Cause I like to watch you try to climb over my seat. It gives me a better angle to pick you up and carry you inside." he said with a snicker._

_"One day you're gonna drop me, I swear Bolton-"_

_"Ella, would I ever let you fall? No." he said as he kissed her lips," So stop talking and let's go get some food."_

_She agreed and tried to climb out of the truck. Troy picked her up, just like he said that he would, and carried her up to the front door of Vin's."_

_"_Hey Troy, guess what?"

"Yes Gabriella?"

"I'm driving, so you can't park in your favorite spot."

He looked at her and stuck his tongue out. " That's really the only thing that you think of when you come here? Don't worry though, i'll be driving before you know it. Then, I can park in my favorite spot."

"Keep dreaming Bolton." she said as she got out of the car and walked around to Troy's side. He could walk, but Gabriella forced him to use the crutches, just in case he fell.

They walked into Vin's and took their normal booth, all the way in the back, and sat across from each other. A waitress came to get their order a little while after they sat down. Troy told her that he wanted a burger and that Gabriella wanted a banana milkshake. Whenever they went to resteraunts, Troy thought that it was his job to order for Gabriella. She really didn't know why, but got used to the routine that would take place during ordering.

"Troy, you know what I was thinking about the other day? Everyone calls me something different, mostly Gabriella or Gabi. You're the only one that calls me Ella or Montez."

"You're the only one that calls me Bolton, besides the guys. Let me rephrase that, you're the only girl that calls me Bolton, and you call me wildcat. We haven't been in high school for six years now, but you still call me wildcat." Gabriella laughed. She never realized that she still did that. It just came out sometimes. "Speaking of the guys," he continued," have you talked to Chad lately?"

Chad was Troy's best friend, other than Gabriella. A few months before Troy's accident the two got into a huge fight and stopped talking. Chad never called Gabriella to see how Troy was. Gabriella was best friends with Chad's fiance, Taylor. She met Taylor in high school, after they had a physics together. The four became great friends and were inseprable. But after the fight, they all stopped talking. Gabriella knew that it was between Chad and Troy, but her and Taylor just stopped communicating as well. After Troy's accident, Taylor called once or twice to check up on her friend, but that was about it.

"Troy, do you want to go see Chad and Taylor? It's been long enough that you two haven't been talking"

"I guess so, but after we eat. I'm starving."

"Ella, can you go first? If Chad's at the door, I don't know what he would do if he saw me."

"Sure, you big baby." she said as she kissed the top of his head.

Troy followed Gabriella up the walkway. "Here goes nothing." she said as she rang the doorbell.

The door slowly opened. "Oh my God, Gabriella!"

**Thank you for all the reviews! I have a lot of ideas for Troy and Gabriella's encounter with Chad and Taylor, so keep posted. Please review! It helps me get the stories out and up a lot faster! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Promises are Forever

NOTE: I do not own any of the characters or Disney.

Chapter Nine

(Previously: "Ella, can you go first? If Chad's at the door, I don't know what he would do if he saw me."

"Sure, you big baby." she said as she kissed the top of his head.

Troy followed Gabriella up the walkway. "Here goes nothing." she said as she rang the doorbell.

The door slowly opened. "Oh my God, Gabriella!")

Taylor practically flew out the door and into Gabriella's arms. "I missed you so much!" she said to Gabriella as they embraced.

"I missed you too Tay. Is Chad home?"

"Yeah, he's upstairs watching the gam-" she said as her eyes widened. "Troy, are you alright? I'm so sorry about the whole fight."

"Taylor," Troy said as he hobbled towards her," this isn't between me and you, or you and Gabriella. I was never mad at you. I'm here to talk to Chad. I want my best friend back."

"I understand." Taylor said as she tried to hug Troy. "But seriously, how are you. Wait, after you and Chad settle things, you can tell the whole story on our new comfy sofas!"

"See Troy," Gabriella whispered into his ear as they walked inside the house," everything is going to be okay. Do you need help going up the stairs?"

"Naah, I think i'll try to do them myself." he told her as he kissed her forehead.

"I'm going to be in the kitchen with Taylor. Just holler if you need me."

Gabriella watched as Troy tried to walk up the stairs. He could do it, but still was gathering his energy back. It was hard for Troy to be so limited in his movements. For all of his life, he was running everywhere. Troy made it to the top of the stairs and turned around to give Gabriella a thumbs up. She smiled and followed Taylor into the kitchen.

Troy could hear the sound of a tv in a room further down the hallway. He guessed that the room was Chad's 'mancave'. During high school they both talked about having 'ultimate mancaves', eqipped with a giant tv, mini fridge, full bar, and anything else that a man could have wanted. After walking down the hallway, he turned to look into the room. There was Chad, stairing into the televison, with a bowl of popcorn in his hand.

"Hey Danforth. Do you mind if I come in?"

Chad turned with a look of suprise on his face. "No way." was the only thing that he said as he got up to face Troy. "Man, i'm so sorry. That fight was rediculous."

"That's why i'm here. I thought, well Gabriella thought, that the best way to start the next page of my life was to make up with my best friend."

"You did pick a smart woman." Chad said as he hugged his best friend. "I missed you man."

"I missed you too Chad. Still brothers?"

"Always. Do you want to sit down, or do you want something to drink?"

"Actually, we just came back from Vin's. Taylor said something about all of us talking on your new sofas?"

"Right, she's obsessed with those sofas." The two friends laughed as they made their way back downstairs and onto Taylor's prized couches.

"I think they made up!" Gabriella said as she hugged Taylor.

"Yes! This is great, but im serious Gabriella, i'm so sorry. I should have been there for you after Troy's accident. I just don't know what came over me."

"Tay, it's all over now. Let's just go talk with the guys, I think they're in the living room."

Gabriella and Taylor made their way into the living room to see the guys sitting across from each other. They were laughing, which made Gabriella smile. Everything was going to be okay. Troy woke up, she had her best friend back, what more could she ask for?

Gabriella took her place next to Troy as Taylor sat next to Chad. She squeezed Troy's hand as their fingers interlocked.

"So man, how did this happen, like, how did you wake up?" Chad asked.

Troy looked at Gabriella. "It was all her."

Gabriella smiled. "I visited him twice on Monday. I guess it helped him start to focus again. The second time I visited him, he woke up. I was just talking to him and he started to smile." she told the rest of the story.

"That's amazing Gabi." Chad said as he locked his hand with Taylor's.

"It really was a miracle." Troy kissed Gabriella. "I feel really bad to cut our time short today, but my mom was expecting me back home at 3."

"That's no problem." Taylor said as she stood up. "We should all get together for dinner soon."

"That'd be great Tay." Gabriella hugged her and turned to help Troy out the door.

After they got into Gabriella's car, she looked at Troy with a puzzled look. "Did your mom really tell you that you needed to be home?"

"Actually, Miss Montez, she did. She wanted me to rest, just like Dr. Crazy told me to."

Gabriella laughed and gave him a little shove as she began to drive back to the Bolton household.

"It's really funny to think that four days ago I was sitting home by myself, praying that you would come home soon, and now you're sitting next to me."

"What can I say? I do flatter many people with my very presence."

"Definitly Bolton, definitly."

"Ahhh, home sweet home." Troy said as he walked through the front door of his parent's house.

"TROY!" Peyton was running down the stairs, followed by Tyler and Mark. He didn't even notice Mark's car as they pulled into the driveway.

"PEYTON!" Troy said, imitating his little sister's voice. She practically knocked him over with the force of her hug. Luckily for Troy, Gabriella was standing behind him to keep him from falling backwards. "Hey Ty, damn dude, you're starting to look more and more like me everyday!"

Tyler looked embarassed as he hugged Troy and went to take his spot on the couch.

"Troy."

"Mark."

"I missed you little bro." The two brothers hugged, just as Kendra walked in from the kitchen.

"Mark-, oh Troy! You're home!" Kendra said as she hobbled down the hallway to give Troy a hug.

"It's great to see you Kendra, and congradulations!"

"Thank you." she said as she followed Mark into the living room.

"Let's go sit down." Troy said as he motioned Gabriella to a single seater chair.

"I can't sit on you."

"Ella, i'm fine. Sit." She did as he told her to. Troy wrapped his arms around her as she let her head rest on his neck.

"Hey guys," Everyone turned to see that Tyler was the one talking, for once. "I was thinking that since everyone is here, you know, we could watch some old home movies or something."

"Tyler, that's an amazing idea!" Peyton ran to the video cabnet and started pulling VHS tapes off the shelves. "How about we start with Mark's birth?"

"Haha, no." Mark said as he turned a bright pink color.

"Fine, how about Mark's third grade graduation, then we can go with Troy and Gabriella's 5th grade school play, then mine and Tyler's preschool graduation." Peyton walked over to the VCR and put the first tape in.

_"Mark Bolton" the principal's voice roared._

_Mark quickly ran from his seat and to the stairs. He missed a step and fell flat on his little face._

_"And that's all folks!" he said in his little third grader voice._

"I remember that Mark!" Kendra said as she tried to contain herself from laughing too hard.

**Sooo, what do you guys think so far? Keep reviewing, it makes it easier to write! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Promises are Forever

Note: I do not own any of the characters or Disney.

Chapter Ten

It was cold, even freezing. Gabriella tried to pull the covers back onto her body, but they wouldn't budge. Why won't they move?

"God Montez! You can't keep all of the covers!"

Troy, it was Troy. He was actually here, actually speaking. She had to constantly remind herself that the real Troy was laying in bed next to her, not the fake Troy in her dreams that would vanish as soon as her eyelids opened.

"Troy, im freezing. Why did you turn the air conditioning on high?"

"I didn't. Maybe my mom turned it on or something. She's not very good with technology." Troy moved closer to Gabriella and put his arms around her. "I have an idea. You can sleep in my arms, and I can put the blanket on top of me. Deal?"

"Deal." she said as she snuggled closer to Troy. He_ was _a hell of a lot warmer than the blanket that they were sharing. Soon enough, they were both fast asleep, cuddled in each other's arms.

Gabriella suddenly woke up due to the brightness that began to shine in Troy's room. She reached her hand over to the other side of the bed. Troy wasn't there. Gabriella forced her eyes to fully open and looked around the room. Someone was in the bathroom.

Matt and Troy's rooms had a connecting bathroom which was only accessable from either one of their rooms, not the hallway. There were many times where Gabriella walked in on Matt going to the bathroom, or Matt walked in on her. It was embarrassing the first or second time, but eventually the bathroom became a hallway between the two boy's rooms.

She rolled over and sat up. Whoever was in there was clearly unaware that Gabriella had woken up. The shower water turned on, and she saw the sillouette of a woman get into the tub; Kendra. Troy was probually downstairs eating, and she probually didn't realize that Gabriella was sleeping in the mass of blankets.

Gabriella got out of the bed and put on one of Troy's sweatshirts. Even for summer, the morning was cool.

"Gabriella, is that you?"

"Yeah Kendra, do you need anything?"

"No, I was just hoping that it wasn't Troy. That would be awkward." Gabriella laughed. "Hey, do you want to come in and chat? The guys went out for breakfast and Lucille took Peyton to her friend's house."

"Sure" Gabriella said as she walked into the bathroom and sat on the toliet.

Kendra was sitting in the tub, surrounded by bubbles. You could only see her skin, and the top of her stomach.

"So, how have you been? Now that Troy is back, I guess that it's a lot easier to breathe."

"Yeah, it was really hard without him. I'm just glad that I have him back."

"I don't know how you did it. If Mark was in Troy's situation, I would have gone insane, but seriously- when are you guys getting married?"

"Married? We aren't even engaged."

"Gabriella, I can see the way that Troy looks at you. It won't be long, but don't you want to get married?"

"Yeah, Troy is the only guy I would marry." Gabriella shifted her legs and tried to change the subject. "So when is your baby due?"

"Around September. I'm so excited, but I think that Mark is a little overwhelmed."

"Hey, I wouldn't blame him. He's going to be a great dad."

"Yeah." Kendra smiled, "He doesn't want to know the gender of the baby, so we're not going to find out until November."

"That's nice. Do you have any names picked out?"

"Actually, we do. If it's a boy, his name will be Matthew Jack. Matthew is my dad's name and, Jack. If it's a girl, her name will be Samantha Rose." Gabriella smiled at Kendra, who was rubbing her stomach. "Have you and Troy talked about any baby names?"

Gabriella shrugged. She and Troy never really talked about children. If they did, it would have been in the last five months. She probually would have already been engaged if it hadn't been for that drunk idiot. "Not really. I do like two names though; Alexander Samuel and Amanda Nicole."

"I love those names. Is Alexander Samuel significant, or do you just like the name?"

"Well, Alexander is Troy's middle name and Samuel was my dad's name." They both fell silent for a few minutes.

"I think it's time for me to get out. Gabriella, would you just help me stand up?"'

Gabriella agreed and stood up to grab Kendra's hand. She hobbled back into Mark's room and called Gabriella in when she was finished getting dressed.

"Do you know what time the guys will be back? Gabriella was starting to wonder where Troy was. Just then, the front door opened to the sounds of four men talking and joking.

"I guess that's them." Kendra said as she stood up and made her way to the door. "I'll tell Troy to bring you up something to eat."

Gabriella thanked her and walked back into Troy's room. She sat down on the bed and closed her eyes. When was Troy going to propose to her? They were 24 years old, wasn't that old enough to get married? She sighed and put Troy's pillow on her face. It smelt like him, which made her smile.

"Ella, what are you doing?"

She laughed and took his pillow off of her face. "Nothing."

"I can see that. I brought you back some pancakes."

"Chocolate chip?"

"Always."

"You know me way to good."

"I would hope that I know what your favorite breakfast food is." Troy sat down on his bed, right next to Gabriella. "What do you want to do today?"

"I really don't care, as long as i'm with you."

"I have an idea, but it's a suprise." He winked at Gabriella as he laid down next to her.

"Whatever you say Bolton." Gabriella said as she kissed him.

**Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a super duper short chapter, but the next one is going to be amazing. Does anyone want to guess what's going to happen? Please keep reviewing! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Promises are Forever

Note: I do not own any of the characters or Disney.

Chapter Eleven

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! This chapter is going to be amazing, so keep reading!**

"Gabriella, Troy told me that you wern't allowed to go outside yet." Matt looked up at her as she went to put her sandals on. Kendra was sitting next to him on the couch. It looked as if they had been looking through a baby catalog.

"Oh." she said quietly, wondering what Troy had pulled up his sleeve. "Do you know what Troy is up to? He told me to wear my favorite sundress."

Kendra smiled. "He might have told us something, but i'm afraid that it's a secret for you to find out."

Just then, Troy walked in the front door. He was wearing a blue plaid button down shirt with khaki colored shorts.

"Wow Bolton, you sure clean up well."

"I try to look decent for my favorite girl." Troy walked over to where Gabriella was standing. He stopped using his crutches, which was remarkable for someone who just woke up from a coma. "Are you ready to go?"

"Ready as always." she said as she grabbed Troy's hand and walked out the front door. Kendra flashed Gabriella an excited smile.

"First, we just need to make a trip to the hospital. Dr. Annoying wants to check up on me. Then, we will go to our destination."

"Can you drive?" Gabriella asked as Troy walked her around to the passenger's side of his beat up truck.

"Yeah. I drove this morning. We were kinda late because I took the long way around. It feels good to drive again." Troy walked around to his side of the truck and got inside. He kissed Gabriella once before his foot hit the gas.

"That man annoys me so much! I guess the only positive part of being in this hospital for five months was that I couldn't hear his voice!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes as they got back into Troy's truck. "He is just making sure that you're alright."

"Yeah, but he didn't need to make me take my pants off. I bet he wants me."

"Definitly Bolton, that's his motive. Now seriously, where are you taking me?"

Troy gave a short evil laugh. "You'll see."

"Troy, why are we here?" Gabriella looked around. They were at the graveyard that her father was buried in.

"I'll be right back, you can stay in the truck."

She couldn't say another word before Troy got out of the truck and closed the door. He set off at a limpy jog. Even though he could walk perfectly fine, running was still an obstical.

He got to a certain grave and stopped. "Hi Mr. Montez. I just thought that I should ask you something before-"

Gabriella tried to read his lips, but failed halfway through his sentence. She wondered why he would possibly want to come here of all places. After a few minutes, Troy was back at the truck. He opened his door and slid into the driver's seat.

"What was that all about?" Gabriella looked at Troy with a stern glare.

"Nothing, nothing. Are you ready to continue on our journey?"

Gabriella nodded, but wanted to say no. What was Troy planning? She wanted to know, but knew that it would be better if she just went along with his plans.

They drove down the road until they came the park that they used to play at when they were little. Troy got out of the car and walked around to Gabriella's side and opened the door. She stepped out and kissed Troy. "Why are we at the park?"

"Well," Troy said as he leaned against the side of his truck, "do you remember when we were going to on a picnic at the park? Then all of that shit happened, and we never got a chance to actually have our picnic."

Gabriella smiled and leaned into Troy. "Great idea, wildcat."

Troy kissed her and started walking to the back of his truck. She didn't even think to look in the back of the truck to clues of what they were doing. He pulled out a picnic basket, grabbed Gabriella's hand, and began to walk towards the center of the park.

They found a nice grassy spot right away. Troy opened the basket and pulled out a red checkered blanket to lay on the grass.

"You are so typical, Bolton."

Gabriella laughed and went to go open the picnic basket. Troy's hand flew to the basket.

"I'm suprising you, remember?"

"I'm oh so sorry, Mr. Bolton." Gabriella said in a sarcastic tone.

Troy opened the basket once again, and pulled out two sandwiches. They were both peanut butter and jelly, their favorite sandwiches.

"I expect that you'll want some iced tea to go with your sandwich?"

Gabriella smiled. "How'd you know?" she said as she grabbed one of the sandwiches and took it out of the plastic bag.

After they had finished their lunch, they walked over to the swings.

"Do you remember when we would go on these when we were little, Troy?"

Troy gave her another push as Gabriella's swing soared back up into the air.

"Yeah, and the slide, and the teeter totters."

As Gabriella's swing came back down towards Troy, he grabbed her around her waist and brought her back to the ground slowly.

"Hey Ella, i'll race you to the slide. Whoever goes down first wins."

"You're on, wildcat." Gabriella said as she kissed Troy and began to run over to the slide. He followed her at a slower pace.

Everything was going as planned. Troy waited at the bottom of the slide for Gabriella to come down.

"I won! Troy, you need to come down with me this time." Gabriella pleaded like a little kid.

"Fine, fine. Only if you go up first."

Gabriella laughed and climbed back up to the top of the jungle gym.

"Are you coming up?"

"Ella, I love you. You know that right?"

"Yes, and I love you too. But are you going to come up?"

"I would," Troy took a deep breath," but I always want to be down here, so I can catch you if you ever fall." He got down on his knee, which took some effort, and pulled out a beautiful diamond ring. "Gabriella Montez, Ella, will you marry me?"

Gabriella's eyes lit up. She hadn't been expecting this, but was still excited. She walked over to the top of the slide and began to go down. Troy repositioned himself so that he would be facing her as she got off of the slide.

"Troy, I would love to be your wife." She took the ring from the box that he was holding and slid it on her finger. It fit perfectly. Gabriella waited for Troy to stand back up before smothering herself in his chest. He put his arms around her and rocked back and forth. She looked up at Troy's overjoyed face and kissed him. The kiss seemed as if it lasted forever.

Gabriella looked around. Some people were staring at them with lovestruck gazes. An elderly couple sitting on a nearby bench smiled at her. Finally, her dream was coming true. She was going to get married to Troy, and he would belong to her forever.

**Yay! The scene will continue in the next chapter! Please keep reviewing, and if you have any ideas for upcoming chapters, please let me know! I'm open to suggestions and I would love to hear what you guys want to happen! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Promises are Forever

Note: I do not own any of the characters or Disney.

Chapter Twelve

This was really happening. Gabriella was going to be Mrs. Troy Bolton, just like she had dreamed. He would be hers, and she would he his for the rest of their lives.

"I love you Troy." Gabriella said as she tried to fight back tears. Getting married was the one thing that she had always dreamed of. As a little girl, she would draw out the cake she wanted, the dresses, and most importantly, a handsome groom.

"Ella, let's go sit back down. I have another suprise for you." Gabriella detached herself from Troy, and held his hand as they walked away from the slide and towards their blanket and basket.

"What else do you have for me wildcat? Getting married to you is all I want, and all I ever need."

"I feel the same way, but you're not going to live off of my love." Troy said with a smirk. "You're gonna need to eat."

"Whatever you say Troy." Gabriella kissed him as approached the blanket. Troy sat down first, and she sat down in his legs. Everything felt so right, as if nothing could go wrong.

"Alright, I know how much you love chocolate covered strawberries, so I had my mom make some."

"No way." Gabriella turned around and kissed Troy's neck. "We used to eat these all the time."

Troy picked a strawberry up and fed it to Gabriella, in a romantic way. She then tried to do the same for Troy, but didn't turn around and missed his mouth by a mile.

"Thanks Ella. Now the bees will come and sting my face, cause i'm just so sweet."

"I would lick it off of you, but we're in a public place. I don't think that the mothers would appreciate their children seeing that."

"They would just wish that they could do that for their husbands. Seriously Ella, I love the ring of that."

"The ring of what?"

"Gabriella Bolton."

"Mama, guess what?" Gabriella said as she sat down on Troy's bed. Troy thought that it would be a good idea to say over his future mother-in-law's house for the night. "I have something to show you when we come over later."

"Gabi, you can't tell me now? It seems pretty important." Gabriella wanted to tell her mother of what happened that day, but she thought that it would be better in person rather than over the phone.

"I'll see you later, mama." she hung up the phone and walked into the bathroom. Troy was taking a shower.

"Do you need something, Ella."

"No Troy. I just wanted to see what you were doing."

"I'm taking a shower, would you like to join me?" Troy said jokingly.

"I'd love to." Gabriella took her clothes off, slid the curtain over, and got into the tub.

"This is nice. I wouldn't mind doing this more often." Troy looked down at his fiance and winked at her.

"We could do this at the apartment whenever you want." Gabriella reached for a bar of soap. She put it on Troy's chest and worked her way up and down his body. "Damn, Troy. You need to get back to the gym. Your abs aren't rock solid anymore."

He laughed as he wrapped his arms around Gabriella and brought her in to him.

"Oh, my, gosh." Gabriella screamed as the water temperature went from hot, to freezing cold.

"I guess that's my house's way of saying get out of the shower."

Troy stepped out first, then turned to lift Gabriella out of the tub. He grabbed a towel, wrapped it around her, then picked her up and carried her into his bedroom and onto the bed.

"Right now Troy?" Gabriella said as she looked back at Troy who was locking the doors in his room. He walked back over to the bed and took the towel off of her. Gabriella had a nice natural tan because of her spanish heritage.

She began to kiss Troy. They found their way around each other's bodies. The last time they did this was over six months ago, which seemed like a decade to Gabriella.

"Troy, where do you want to sleep tonight?" He and Gabriella had left the Bolton household after an eventful afternoon and were on their way to the Montez household. "Do you want to pitch a tent in the backyard? That would be so fun."

"I'm up for whatever, as long as i'm with you." Troy moved his hand from the steering wheel and found Gabriella's hand.

Troy's old truck arrived infront of the house that Gabriella had grown up in. All of the lights were off, which worried Gabriella.

"I just talked to her, she knows that we're coming over."

"Ella, don't worry. I'm sure that everything is alright."

They got out of the truck and walked up to the house. It was quiet, and a little eerie.

"Troy, what if something happened to her?"

"Ella, listen to me. Just because the lights are off doesn't mean that anything happened to your mother. She could have fallen asleep early." Troy looked into Gabriella's soft brown eyes. He hated to see her upset. It was the one thing that drove him insane. Troy kissed her once before he turned to her and opened the door.

**I'm so sorry that it's been forever since the last update. What did you guys think of this chapter? What do you think that Troy and Gabriella will find when they walk into Maria's house. If anyone has any suggestions of anything that they would want to see in upcoming chapters, please let me know. Also, remember: REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Promises are Forever

Note: I do not own Disney or any of the characters.

Chapter Thirteen

"Ella, just go inside. I'm sure Maria is fine." He looked into his fiance's eyes. She looked as if she just saw a ghost.

"Mama?" Gabriella said as she stepped into the house. "Are you in here?" There was the sound of moving upstairs, which made Gabriella jump. "Troy, will you come upstairs with me?"

"Ella, you used to live here. Maria is clearly upstairs. I'm going to go get a tent from the garage, alright. Just scream if you need something." He kissed Gabriella on the forehead and walked towards the garage door.

Gabriella looked forward and began to walk towards the staircase. Everything that happened this past week was so amazing. She didn't want something terrible to happen and ruin it all. She walked up the staircase and turned towards Maria's room. Inside, Gabriella could hear a whimpering.

"Mama?" She said as she slid into the crack of the door. "Oh, mama. Why are you crying?"

Maria was laying on her bed with a rather large box next to her.

"Baby, it's nothing." Maria said as she wiped tears from her face. "I was just looking at some old pictures and lost track of the time. Is Troy here?"

"Yeah, he's looking for a tent in the garage. Mama, can I borrow those pictures for tonight? I'm sure Troy would love to see them."

"Anything for you, honey. Now let me see that ring."

Gabriella showed her mother the ring. It was beautiful.

"Mama, i'm going to go bring these pictures downstairs and see if Troy needs any help, alright?" Maria nodded as she watched her daughter pick up the box and walk out of the room.

"All done! Now let's get inside." Troy found the tent and set it up in the middle of the backyard. The last time Gabriella was in the tent was probually ten years ago. Her and Troy had a campout once before at Maria's house. It was very windy that night, which made it nearly impossible to sleep. Her and Troy stayed up all night and played games.

"Wow Troy, maybe we should just sell the apartment and live here from now on. I'm sure our kids will love the space."

"Obviously." Troy said as he crawled in and sat on the air mattress. Gabriella followed and sat next to him after placing the big box down in front of them. "What do you have there?"

"My mom was upstairs looking at pictures." She pointed to the box. "And I thought that it would be fun if we looked at them. I'm just warning you, i'm not sure what kind of pictures are in there, so don't make fun of me."

"Alright, i'm ready." Troy put his arm around Gabriella as she opened the box and pulled the first picture out.

It was a picture of Troy and Gabriella on their first day of fifth grade. Gabriella was wearing a sundress, whereas Troy was in his usual shorts and t-shirt. They were standing outside of their elementary school. It was a cute picture that Gabriella wanted to frame.

"Hey wildcat, you know what I never noticed about this picture? You're holding my hand. What was that all about?"

"I don't remember. Don't all little kids hold their friend's hands?"

Gabriella laughed as she put that picture aside and picked up another one, and another one, and another one. They flew through the box of undiscovered memories. Once they finished, Troy packed the pictures back in the box and moved it to the other side of the tent. He sat back down on the air mattress and let Gabriella lay down on him.

"Troy, we need to start planning the wedding. Should I ask Taylor to help? I bet that she'd love to do it."

"You can do whatever you want. I'm happy if you're happy."

"You're too much, wildcat." Gabriella laughed as she leaned back onto Troy. "You want kids, right?"

"Whoa Ella, where did that come from?"

"I'm only asking. We don't have to talk about it if you want to."

"Ella, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, yeah, i'd love to be a father some day, but I don't think that we're ready just yet. After the wedding, i'll be ready for anything."

"Do you like any special names? I was talking to Kendra about this the other day."

"Personally, I think that Gabriella is the most beautiful name in the world, but that's already taken by another beautiful woman."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep kissing up to me, wildcat. Tomorrow we're going to the gym, just letting you know. I haven't worked out in a long time and I need some motivation."

"Whatever you want to do." Troy kissed Gabriella's head and laid down. Even though it wasn't late at all a sudden wave of tiredness swept over both of them.

"Troy, what was that?" Gabriella said as she jerked over. They had been probually been sleeping for four or five hours now.

"Eh, what?" he said in a sleepy voice. "Isn't that just the fire whistle?"

"No, it sounded like an explosion or something." Gabriella peeked her head out of the tent. The sky was filled with smoke. She could see flames in the distance. "I think we should go inside."

Troy looked down at his phone. There were four text messages from his father and five missed calls. Troy opened the messages. They read:

Dad: Troy, get inside. Possible bombing in the city.

Dad: Troy, please answer.

Dad: Troy, get inside. More airplanes are coming.

Dad: Troy, be safe. I'm not sure what is going to happen. Protect Gabriella.

Troy looked up at Gabriella. He didn't know what to do. They didn't have bomb shelters in Albuquerque. "Ella, get inside. I'll grab the pictures. Tell your mom and get in the basement."

"Troy-"

"Ella, get inside right now. This is serious." Gabriella started to cry, which made Troy feel terrible. He picked up the box of pictures and their pillows and ran into the house with Gabriella at his side.

"Mama!" Gabriella screamed as she ran upstairs. "Get out of bed, come here."

Troy looked around. The power had gone out. He grabbed the nearest flashlight and the radio that Maria listened to as she cooked dinner. "Ella, hurry up!"

Soon enough, Gabriella appeared with Maria from the staircase.

"Troy, what is going on?" Maria looked as if she was just hit by a bus."

"I'm not sure, but we need to get in the basement now." He led the way into the basement and walked to the corner. "Alright, sit down."

Maria and Gabriella obeyed. Gabriella sat down almost on top of Troy.

"Troy, what is going on?" Maria had the same expression on her face as her daughter.

"We woke up to an explosion. I looked at my phone and my dad had texted me and said to get inside. He said that there was a city wide bomb threat and that we should go into the basement."

Gabriella tucked her head into Troy's body and wept. Suddenly, the house shook. They heard the sound of screams and another explosion, this time closer by.

"Troy, i'm scared." Gabriella looked up at him.

"Ella, i'm scared too. Remember what I told you. Whatever happens, I love you. Forever and always, I promise."

**Sooooo, what do you think? I'm so, so, so, so sorry that I haven't updated in forever. I've had a lot going on at school. Please let me know what you think! Review, review, review. Also, let me know what you want to happen. I just may include your ideas in upcoming chapters. Happy Sunday! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Promises are Forever

Note: I do not own Disney or any of the characters.

Chapter Fourteen

It felt like twenty years had past. The basement wasn't a very exciting place. No one had really cleaned it in over ten years. There was a thin layer of dust over old boxes that no one really knew exactly what was inside. Gabriella opened her eyes and hoped that everything that had happened that past night was just a dream. Life was perfect; she had an amazing fiance, a great apartment, a loving mother, and the Boltons as her second family.

Sadly, her fears were the reality. The basement was still intact, but sirens could be heard from the outside world. If last night's bombings were actually real bombings, she should be calling Taylor and the Boltons to see if they were alright.

"Ella, your mom is still sleeping. Come with me."

Gabriella failed to notice that Troy had been awake the whole time she was thinking about the 'what if's' that may be disrupting her nearly perfect life. He looked very tired, as if he was awake the whole night. Knowing Troy, he probually had been up the whole night keeping watch over the Montez girls. It was hard to imagine that only a week or so ago Troy was laying in a hospital bed.

"Troy, what happened?"

He looked into his fiance's eyes. She could tell that bad news were going to come out of his mouth.

"I'm not sure why, but we were bombed. My parents are fine; I talked to my dad last night."

"What about Chad and Taylor?"

"Shit. I'm going to call them right now. Ella, go sit with your mom. You can turn the radio on if you want. They might have more information on there."

Gabriella obeyed and walked back over to where her mother was sleeping. She watched Troy call his best friend.

"Come on, pick up Chad." Troy was nervously pacing in a circle on the other side of the basement. Finally, Chad answered and Troy let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Hey man, how are you?"

"I'm fine Troy. Taylor is fine too. Have you heard any news on what happened?"

"Nothing other than that we were bombed."

"Troy, come over here!" Gabriella yelled.

Troy ran over to the radio. The announcer said that the main objective of the bombers was to get the hospital. They missed and ended up hitting a mini-mart. Many bullets also were fired into the hospital after the bomb misfired. The terrorists have been captured. The death toll is unknown.

"Chad, you still there?"

"Yeah man, what did they say?"

"The terrorists' objective was to bomb the hospital. They failed and ended up hitting the mini-mart. Various fires were set in the course of the night also."

"Damn Troy. If Gabriella didn't wake you up, you, you probually would have still been at the hospital."

Troy took a deep breath. Chad was right. If it wasn't for Gabriella, he would have been one of the dead. Even worse, Gabriella could have been one of the dead. They lived so close to the hospital.

"Aaight Chad, i'll talk to you later man. Tell Taylor that we're alright."

Troy hung the phone up. Gabriella looked up at him.

"Troy, are they alright?"

"Yeah Ella, they're fine. Do you want to wake your mom up? I think we should drive to my parent's house. I don't want to leave Maria here alone."

"Ok Troy."

"Oh my baby boy!" Lucille cried out as soon as she saw Troy step out of his old truck. She ran down the walkway and hugged him. "And Gabriella, Maria, i'm so glad that everyone is okay."

"You too Lucille, you too." Maria followed her back into the Bolton household.

Something seemed wrong with Lucille. She looked as if she was hiding terrible news.

"Ella," Troy said as he walked inside with Gabriella in hand, "do you think that something is wrong with my mom?"

"Mark. Mark, Troy. You never found out if he was okay." Gabriella looked into Troy's big blue eyes. Whenever she looked into them, she found feelings of love and a sense of bravery. Now, she saw terror. "Troy, he has to be okay. He and Kendra are fine."

"I'm going to go ask my dad." Troy started to walk away, but something wouldn't let him go. Gabriella was still holding his hand with a terrified look on her face. She walked towards Troy and grabbed his other hand.

"Wildcat," she whispered into his ear," i'm so scared. But listen to me Troy; I will always be there for you. I just want you to know that. After you go ask your dad, let's go upstairs. You need some sleep in a proper bed, alright?"

Troy hugged Gabriella and brought her head against his chest. He could feel her tears soak into his t-shirt. "Don't cry Ella. Everyone is okay. Don't think about the 'what if's'; just focus on reality. I'm safe, you're safe. We're together. That's all that matters."

Gabriella lifted her head off of Troy and smiled. They began to walk into the backyard where Jack Bolton was standing.

"Hey dad, is Mark okay?"

Mr. Bolton turned around. His face was stained with tears, which made Gabriella start to cry herself. "We don't know. He was at the hospital with Kendra last night. They wanted her to stay over."

"Dad, i'm sure that they're fine. Mark and Kendra are strong."

"I sure hope so."

"Ella, shhh." He rubbed her back. Gabriella had always seen Jack Bolton as the fearless father figure that she never had. He was never worried or upset, which gave her a feeling of security.

"Troy, they were out to get someone. That's what scares me." She sniffled once more.

"They weren't out to get you though."

"But how do I know that? My father was killed by a drunk driver. You were almost killed. What if someone is actually trying to kill me? Or maybe kill all of the people I love to get to me?"

"Ella, you're talking crazy. Why would someone be out to get you?"

"I don't know." Gabriella let out a huge cry and fell back into Troy's arms.

"Gabriella?" Tyler and Peyton walked into the room. "Um, mom wanted me to tell you guys that Mark just called. He and Kendra are alright."

"Thanks guys." Troy said as he gave his siblings the 'go away' look.

"Troy, I just have this gut feeling that someone wants me out of their way. I'm not sure who, or why."

"But Ella, you've never hurt anyone. Everyone loves you."

"Maybe Troy, it's someone whose been plotting for a long time. Maybe they want something from my life, but i'm preventing them from having it."

"Gabriella, I have no clue as to what you're talking about. You're tired. Let's just take a nap. You'll feel better when we wake up."

She wanted to believe him, but for some reason deep inside, Gabriella knew that someone out there wanted to get her out of the way.

**Sooooo, what do you think? I want to know if you guys like the sudden change in the story line. I don't want to be mean, but i'm probually going to start to update based on the number of reviews I get. I know that tons of people are reading the story, but I only get three or four reviews per each chapter. Please tell me what you think, or what you want out of the story. I want to thank **pumpkinking5 and toughBlvd **for their constant reviews! Review, review, review! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

Promises are Forever

Note: I do not own Disney or any of the characters.

Chapter Fifteen

She sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed. Was someone out to get her? She never did anything to hurt anyone, well, at least that she knew of. Maybe it was someone in her past, whom she had no idea about.

"Ella, i'm serious. No one is out to get you. Why are you so paranoid? You were never like this in school." He looked into his fiance's eyes and hugged her. Gabriella was usually calm and took times to think things through.

"Troy, think about it. Someone tried to bomb the hosptial that you've been in for the past few months, after you were almost killed."

"Gabriella Montez, listen to me. Stop thinking that someone is out to get you. And even if by some chance someone is trying to get to you, they'll have to get through me first. We're in this together." He pulled Gabriella in closer. "I promise."

Three Days Later

"See you soon. Love you Mama." Gabriella hugged her mother with all the force that she could. Leaving this house would be hard. Gabriella now had to readjust back to the life that she left behind so many months ago.

She let go of her mother and walked towards Troy. He put his arm around her. It felt great knowing that Troy would be with her at all times, for the most part.

"Alright Ella, what do you want to do first? We can go back to the apartment, go food shopping; it's your choice." They walked down to Troy's truck. He walked around to the passenger's side and opened the door. Gabriella sat down inside the truck as Troy shut the door. He then walked to the driver's side, hopped in, and turned the truck on.

"Do you want to go back to the apartment? We can see what we need. You probually need some new clothes, so, uh, shopping afterwards I guess."

"I'm up for anything." They sped off down the road. Troy made sure that his hand was entangled with Gabriella's they whole time.

"Hey Troy, i'm sorry about that whole paranoia thing. I guess, I don't know, I was scared of the idea of losing you again."

"Ella, don't be sorry. What happened was scary, but that's over now. I'm here with you. We're going to be married in a couple of months and Kendra is going to have her baby soon. Life is back to normal, even better than normal. Just listen to me." Troy stopped at the red light, and turned to look at Gabriella. She had tears in her eyes. "Gabriella, don't let this bother you for the rest of your life. Just move on, we'll move on together."

The light turned green and Troy pulled forward. They had to pass the hospital in order to get to their apartment building, which posed a problem. Troy didn't know how much damage was done to the surrounding area, or even if they could get through that intersection. Luckily, most of the rubble had been cleared out. Looking at the mini-mart was very spooky. It looked like a war zone. The windows of the hospital that were shot at now were boarded up. Troy looked over at Gabriella, who had closed her eyes.

"Ella, i'll tell you when we're at the parking garage." She nodded her head. It killed Troy whenever Gabriella was like this. All he wanted to do was to hug her and tell her that everything was going to be alright.

They finally arrived at the apartment building. Troy got out of the truck and walked to Gabriella's side to let her out. She looked like a scared child who became seperated with their parents at a busy mall.

Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand as they walked up to the elevator that would take them to their little slice of freedom.

"Ella, what do you want to have for dinner tonight? I'll make a list for the supermarket."

Gabriella was sitting on the couch with her head laying against a pillow. "Anything, you can choose."

"Alright Gabriella, I have a plan. How does an indoor picnic sound to you? Peanut butter and jelly, with a bottle of grape juice? One straw."

For the first time in four days, Gabriella laughed. Troy's heart skipped a beat. "I'd love that wildcat."

Gabriella stood up and walked into the kitchen. Troy wrapped his arms around her. "I love you Ella. Everything is going to be okay. I know that Mrs. Bolton will be very happy with her life in the future, so let's make sure that happens."

She looked up at Troy with a confused expression. "Mrs. Bolton?"

"Yes, Mrs. Troy Bolton."

"Oh God, how did your parent's ever deal with you during high school." They both laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"If you're like this when we're together, I wonder what you were like with your family."

"I wasn't dropping corny jokes with them. They would just look at me like something was wrong with me. Expecially Mark. Whenever I would drop a joke about him and Kendra in front of him, he would give me a nasty look and mutter things under his breath."

"Really, I knew that Mark was never really open to people, but I never knew that you guys were like that with each other."

"Well, Mark tried to act like the best son in the whole house. Whenever I would do better than him, like in basketball or something, he would isolate himself from everyone except Kendra. It was odd." Troy lifted Gabriella up onto the kitchen counter and put his body between her legs. He let her wrap her arms around him.

"Oh Troy, you have no idea how much I missed you. Anyway, let's go upstairs and see what you need, clothes wise."

Gabriella jumped off of the countertop into Troy's arms. He carried her all the way upstairs and into their bedroom.

"Damn, it's been forever since i've spent a lot of time in here."

Gabriella jumped out of his arms and walked over to Troy's armoire. She pulled open the large doors. "Uhmm, Troy, I wore your clothes a lot when you wern't here."

"Hey, at least someone was wearing them." He smiled and walked over to Gabriella. "I know that I need underwear, socks, undershirts, but what else?"

"I think that's all the basics, but what about a new suit."

"For what?"

"After the accident, you were let go from work. I still have my job at the firm, but I don't know how long that money alone will support us."

"So, what you're saying is that I should get a new suit for some job interviews."

"Exactly." Gabriella walked over to her dresser and started rummaging through her own clothes. "I also need some more bras, and underwear."

"Ahhh, don't say those words. They're peircing my virgin ears." Troy fell onto the bed with his hands in his ears.

"Virgin ears? I don't think that statement was very valid, Mr. Troy Bolton."

"Alright, you got me. But you'll never guess to whom."

"Really, I have no idea." Gabriella laughed as she plopped onto the bed next to Troy. "It's great to have you back."

"Alright, dinner is good to go, now let's go shopping. Walmart sounds good right?"

"Surely." Gabriella was acting like herself again, which let Troy breathe a little easier. After spending some time alone in their apartment, she was finally coming to realize that nothing was going to happen and they just needed to move on, like Troy said.

They got to the store and walked inside. Gabriella was holding Troy's hand, practically skipping down the aisles.

"Gabriella, you are too much." Troy turned around to see his fiance wearing a giant, hideous sweater.

"I think it's very elegant."

"You can say that again." They both turned around to see Chad and Taylor laughing. "Man, Gabriella. I thought that you had better style than that."

Gabriella ran into Chad's arms. "I'm so glad that you guys are alright." She let go of Chad and hugged Taylor.

The two girls began to talk about wedding plans, and everything else that they could think of. Chad and Troy walked to the side, away from their girls.

"Dude, the wedding is coming up soon. How was your wedding, behind the scenes, you know?"

"Actually," Chad took a deep breath and began again, his voice significantly quiter than before. "it was a nightmare. Taylor was a bridezilla, but what else would you expect from her. Gabriella is cool though, she won't be at all like Taylor was."

"I'm really nervous. I want everything to be perfect for her. She deserves it."

"I got you man. Don't tell Taylor that I told you this, but we're here to buy pregnancy tests. She thinks, well, you know."

Troy looked over at Taylor. She did look overly happy, while Chad looked like a nervous wreck.

"I won't say anything." Just then, Troy's phone began to ring. It was Mark.

**Hey guys! I'm really dissapointed about the last update. Four hundred or so people read it, but I think, what, one person reviewed. I'm hoping to see many reviews on this one because I tried my best to make it very long. I want to know what you guys think! If you have any ideas, please let me know. Also, in all of your reviews for this chapter, please include your first and middle name. The first person to review will be mentioned in the next chapter, if you wish to be mentioned. Let's just say that it will be about Mark and Kendra *hint, hint*. As always, review, review, review! Happy first day of spring! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Promises are Forever

Note: I don't own Disney or any of the characters.

Chapter Sixteen

"Troy, can you come to the hospital? Kendra is about to have the baby, and, well, I don't know what to do." Mark sounded nervous, almost as nervous as when he called Troy for advice on asking Kendra to prom.

"Calm down, bro. We'll be there in a little bit. In the meantime, just relax. I'm at the store with Gabriella right now, do you guys need anything?"

"Actually, could you pick up a disposable camera? Kendra told me a few months ago that she wanted pictures taken."

Troy agreed and hung up his phone.

"What was that about?" Chad looked at Troy with a worried look. "It isn't about Gabriella, is it?"

"No, why would it be. She's perfectly fine. It was just Mark. Kendra is having her baby and he asked me to come over to the hospital. I always knew that he wasn't going to be very supportive at this time. He was never really good with blood."

They both laughed. Troy walked over to where Gabriella and Taylor were talking.

"Hey Troy, what's up?" Gabriella looked a lot different from this morning. Her black curls fell gently upon her shoulders. She was wearing one of Troy's basketball sweatshirts from high school, which was clearly about three sizes too big for her. She looked beautiful, even in sweats.

"Mark just called. Kendra is having her baby and he wanted us to come over to the hospital."

Gabriella's eyes lit up. "Really? Now? Oh, i'm so excited. I'm going to be an aunt!"

Taylor looked at Gabriella with her 'oh really' look. "You're not married yet."

"Oh, come on Taylor. It's close enough."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, ladies, but my brother's wife is in labor right now. We need to go."

Taylor and Chad said their goodbyes to their friends and watched them walk away hand in hand.

"Ella, come on." Gabriella stopped in the middle of the parking garage and staired at the spot that she parked at everytime she visited Troy. It was going to be weird going back into here. "Mark is probually crying in the corner right now."

She shook her head and walked into the waiting area of the hospital, with Troy's hand in hers. Gabriella sat down in a chair while Troy walked up to the front desk.

"Well, don't you look familiar! Bolton, if I remember correctly?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm here to see Kendra and Mark Bolton."

The lady clicked around on her computer. "Bolton, Bolton, ah, Bolton, Kendra. I'm sorry, you can't go into the room right now. She's in labor."

Troy shook his head. "Listen, my brother needs me right now. I'm not sure if he even called my parents yet. I was in this damn hospital for too many months. The only reason I am talking to you right now is because of that girl over there." He pointed to Gabriella, who blushed. "I need to know what room Kendra Bolton is in right now."

The lady at the front desk looked as if she was just punched in the face. "Alright, she's in room 114."

Troy looked back at Gabriella, who was emerged in a book. "Let's go Montez, we've got a baby to see." She hopped up from the chair and practically ran to Troy. Their hands entangled as they walked down the long hallway. Finally, they reached room 114 and heard someone talking inside. Troy opened the door and walked in with Gabriella.

"Oh, Troy, Gabriella." Mark whispered as he jumped out of his seat. "She's sleeping right now. She wasn't in labor, it was just a really bad contraction."

"No problem Mark. Why don't we go for a walk. Gabriella can stay here with Kendra." Troy walked his brother out of the room. Gabriella sat down on the chair next to the sleeping Kendra.

Ten minutes later, Kendra woke up. She looked drained, with little color in her face. Her straight blonde hair was in a messy bun.

"Hey Kendra, how are you?"

"I'm fine, where did Mark go?"

"He went on a walk with Troy."

Kendra sighed. "Oh, thank God. He was a nervous wreck. You should have heard him talking to the doctor before. It was like he was having the baby."

"Don't worry. Is your mom coming over to the hospital?" Gabriella realized that she had never talked to Kendra about her life before Mark and the Boltons.

"My parents got divorced after I graduated high school. My mom moved to New York City and my dad, well, i'm not quite sure where he went. All he told me was that he was going up north. He is a photographer and is constantly on the move. I wouldn't be suprised if he didn't even buy a house yet."

"Oh. Well, i'm here for you, and Troy too."

"Thanks Gabriella." Kendra smiled and laid back onto her pillow. There was a tray of fruit next to her. Gabriella felt sorry for Kendra. Not only were her parents not going to be around for her first child's birth, but her husband was a wreck.

The door opened, but this time Peyton walked in.

"Hi Kendra. My mom is here too, but she wanted me to tell you that Mark is in the cafeteria and if you need anything to have Gabriella call my cell phone and i'll run and get him."

"Alright, thanks Peyton. Did you see Mark?"

"Yeah. He's such a wimp." They all laughed as Peyton smiled and walked out of the room.

A few hours had passed since Gabriella and Troy arrived at the hospital. Mark and Troy stayed in the cafeteria. Occasionally, Peyton would pop in to update Mark's condition. It had gotten very dark outside since Gabriella had last looked out of the window.

"Uh, Gabriella. I think it's time." Kendra froze with a look of terror in her eyes. "Get Mark."

Gabriella dialed Peyton's number. It dialed not once, but five times. She didn't pick up. "I'll try Troy's cell phone. Wait, we never went to the store to get him a new one."

Kendra began to breathe fast and heavy. "Gabriella, go, run and get Mark!"

Without thinking, Gabriella burst out of the hospital room and began to run down the hallway. The elevator would take too long. Hopefully Kendra had called doctors to her room. She turned around the corner.

"Ahhh!" Gabriella screamed.

"Ella, what's wrong?" Troy looked suprised and scared at the same time.

"Where's Mark?"

"He said that he forgot to bring Kendra's notebook with baby names and information about birth that they jotted down from the classes that they went to."

"See, that would help, but Kendra is having her baby now!"

"Now? But, right when Mark leaves?"

Gabriella grabbed Troy's arm and pulled him down the hallway. They ran together back to Kendra's room.

"Oh, thank God." Kendra sighed.

"Actually, uh, Kendra, uh Mark went home to get your notebook with baby information. He said that he forgot it and you needed it."

"WHAT?" Kendra looked as if she had just been slapped by a stranger. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! I HAVE THAT BOOK RIGHT HERE!" She started to have more contractions and began to cry. "This isn't happening."

"Kendra, don't worry." Gabriella walked over to Kendra's bed and hugged her. Troy walked into the hallway to call Mark. "He's going to be back here any minute now."

Just then, all the lights in the hospital went out.

"How am I supposed to have a baby in the dark, with no power! And where are these doctors?" Kendra said inbetween sobs.

Gabriella could see Troy's figure come back into the room. "Ella, I don't think Mark is going to be able to come back here for a while."

**Sooooo, what do you guys think? I'm sorry that it took so long to update. I wanted to make everything just right. Anyway... i'm hoping to add some dramatic changes to the story, just about...now. Please keep reading! I would love to reach 35 reviews by the next time that I update! Right now, I have 29. One little review means the world to me and inspires me to keep writing. Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. Happy reading! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

Promises Are Forever

Note: I do not own Disney or any of the characters.

**I'm SOOOOOO sorry that I haven't been able to update in a long time. Between school and sports, i've literally had no time at all. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the long wait! :)**

Chapter Seventeen

"Troy, what are we gonna do? She's having the baby right now." Gabriella looked up into Troy's eyes. He seemed calm, but she knew deep down inside that he was as scared and nervous as she was.

"Ella, I don't know." Troy shook his head. "I guess we just have to do this ourselves. You were here the most this past year, well, I guess I was too, but you get the point. Stay here with Kendra and i'll go find a doctor." He wrapped his arms around his fiance. "Be strong. Kendra needs you."

Troy ran out of the room. Kendra's moans were killing Gabriella on the inside. She wanted to help, but God forbid something went wrong, it could be a life or death situation.

"Gabriellllaaa, get Markkkk."

"Kendra, listen to me. Mark is going to be back here any minute now. Troy went to go find a doctor and to see what's going on."

Just as Kendra began to understand what Gabriella was saying, there was a blood curdling scream from down the hall. Gabriella froze.

"Gabriella, what was that? Can you turn the lights back on?"

"No, sorry Kendra. The power went off." Gabriella walked over to the door to the room and closed it. Whoever was there was not going to get into this room.

There were footsteps in the hallway that began to get louder and louder. It sounded as if a man was walking and carrying something heavy.

Gabriella began to whisper. "Kendra, someone is out there. Don't say anything and don't move until I say that you can. I don't know if it's a bad person out there, but I don't want to take any chances. Do this for your baby."

Kendra nodded her head and tried to close her eyes. Gabriella crouched in the corner, still looking at the small window that was in the door. If someone did come in to the room, they would have to get through her first. Thinking about it, Gabriella wasn't a big threat, but she could only do so much.

The footsteps stopped outside their door. She saw someone look into the small window. They scanned the room for a few seconds, then walked away. It was hard to breathe knowing that someone out there was probually trying to find someone. Just then, Gabriella thought about what she had told Troy the other day.

They sat there for at least an hour. Troy hadn't come back, which worried Gabriella to no end. Suddenly, the power went back on. She heard sirens from outside the hospital and knew that something bad had happened.

Slowly, Gabriella opened the door and looked down the hallway where the scream was heard before. There was blood on the floor. The blood was coming from a room down the hall. It looked as if the person was killed, then dragged into the closest room to clear the hallway. She knew that it would be risky going out into the hallway, but something made her feel as if it had to be done.

"Kendra, i'm going to see if anyone is in the hallway. Troy will be back any minute with doctors."

"Thank you Gabriella."

Gabriella started down the hallway. There was a small gun laying on the ground. She arrived outside the room that was at the end of the trail of blood. Tears started to fall down her face as she opened the door.

She collapsed onto the floor. Why did he have to be the victim, why?

**I just want to thank you guys for reading my story. I'm really happy about how my first one came out. However, i'm planning on ending it soon. I've really drifted from the beginning of the story. If you think differently, let me know in a review. Reviews are the only thing that will continue this story. **


	18. Chapter 18

Promises are Forever

Note: I don't own any of the characters.

Chapter Eighteen

Why did it have to be him? Why today, why her, why everything. He was an innocent man who didn't deserve to die. Gabriella reached over and took Mark's pulse. He was still alive, but barely hanging on to life. She saw where the bullet had gone through the upper part of his arm. He lost a lot of blood and was slipping in and out of consciousness.

"Mark, listen to me. You need to stay awake. Someone's going to be here to help you."

He turned and looked at Gabriella. "If I don't make it," he began, "let Kendra know that I love her and the baby." Mark's pulse began to slow.

"No, Mark, you're going to make it. Stay strong for her. They'll be here to help you any second now."

Tears began to fall down Gabriella's face. She needed to get something to stop the blood that was coming out of his arm. Gabriella ran over to the cabinets on the other side of the room and luckily found some towels. She wrapped the towels tightly around his arm and tied a tube around the whole mass.

"Thank you, Gabriella."

"Mark, just think about Kendra. Think about happy you too will be after she has her baby. Just keep thinking, don't fall back asleep."

He smiled and tried to keep his eyes open. Gabriella took her phone out and called 911.

"Hello, how may we help you?"

"Listen, there was a shooting at the hospital. We need doctors on the third floor. A woman is also having a baby up here too. Please be quick, he's in serious condition."

Gabriella hung up the phone. "Mark, i'm going to be right back. Stay calm, someone is coming to help you."

She left the room and ran back to Kendra's room.

"Gabriella, who was hurt down there?"

"It was some man. He was shot in the arm, but i'm sure he is going to be ok." Gabriella tried with all of her might to stay strong for Kendra, but the tears began to flow once again.

"Gabriella, why are you crying? It wasn't Troy was it?" Kendra became panicked.

"No, it wasn't Troy. But he hasn't come back. He left right after the power went off. I don't want to leave you though, and the man down the hallway. I called 911 and they said they would get the volunteer squad down here right away."

"Good," Kendra sighed, "because I don't know how much longer i'm going to be able to keep this baby in."

"I'm so proud of you Kendra." Gabriella said inbetween tears. "I'm going to be right back. I'm just going to walk down the hallway to see if Troy is coming."

Kendra nodded, then rolled over to look out the window. Gabriella ran out of the room and down the hallway, away from Mark's accident.

"Troy! Troy, Trooooooooooooyyyyyy!" She cried, but no one responded. Gabriella took out her cell phone and dialed his number. It rang twice, then someone picked up.

"Ella, i'm on my back up with the police and a lot of doctors. They said that they're working their way up each floor to check on everyone."

"No, Troy!", Gabriella yelled and cried into the phone," They need to get up here. Mark was shot and he's only got so much time left. Kendra's about to have her baby too. I need you up here Troy. I can't stay strong for both of them much longer."

There was a long pause from Troy. "Mark?"

"Yes, Mark. Your brother. Please Troy, just get up here how."

Troy hung the phone up. Gabriella knew that she had probually just given him the shock of a lifetime, but he needed it to get himself and the doctors upstairs. She paitently waited at the stairwell, when finally she heard the loud footsteps of many people running up the stairs. The first one out of the stairwell was Troy, who had tears streaming down his face.

"They're down this hallway." Gabriella cried out. They all began to run behind Gabriella. She pointed a few doctors to Kendra's room. The rest of the doctors and policemen followed them down the hallway to the scene of the crime.

Troy walked inside the room where his brother was. "Marky, it's me, Troy. Please hold on. There are people here that will help you."

With all of his effort, Mark opened his eyes and turned to Troy. "Thank you." was all that he said before closing his eyes once again.

The doctors told Gabriella and Troy that they had to leave the room because an emergency blood transfusion was needed. They agreed and walked outside of the room and down the hall to Kendra's room. The door was shut and they could hear the screams coming from inside.

"Troy, we need to go inside there and help her." Gabriella looked up at Troy, who just staired down the hallway to Mark's room. "Oh, Troy." She said as she hugged her fiance, who was still crying. He hugged her back. They both sat down on the hard floor and cried together, in each other's arms.

After a few minutes of sitting, Troy spoke up. "Ella, was this what it felt like for you guys while I was here?"

"Not really. You wern't losing blood like Mark. You were just there and all we could do was talk to you, knowing that no answer was going to come out of your mouth."

"I'm so sorry Ella."

"Troy, you're here now. Just forget the past. We have the whole rest of our lives together."

Three weeks had past since the incident at the hospital. Mark was slowly recovering and was getting better every day. Kendra had her baby three hours after the doctors arrived at her room. His name was Matthew Jack, just as Kendra had told Gabriella before. He came a few weeks early hand had to stay at the hospital for a good portion of the week. The doctors called him the miracle baby for being born on such a terrible day, being a premature baby, and began to reach his normal weight in no time.

After everyone heard of the shooting at the hospital, people began to lock down in the city of Albequerque. Police were everywhere and the hospital began doing searches before letting people enter the building. The shooter was never found, but Gabriella rethought about her theory that Troy had shot down weeks before.

Troy got a job as vice principal at the local high school. The previous vice principal had retired. Luckily, he was also the basketball coach which meant that Troy could take that spot also. Even though it was only the middle of August, Troy was excited to get back to work. Gabriella on the other hand, was dreading going to work everyday. The firm became very busy with claims of damage from the bombing and other crazy things.

"Troy, wake up." Gabriella said calmly. Troy had agreed to go out to breakfast with his fiance and his best friends, Chad and Taylor.

"Ughh, five more minutes, please Ella?"

"Troy, you agreed to this. It's eight o'clock. We're meeting them at nine. Now, get up."

Gabriella pulled the covers off of Troy, which exposed his naked body. He went to the gym nearly everyday. Gabriella constantly teased him about his body. His abs were back after not working out for over five months straight.

"Damn, wildcat. You need to take a shower." Gabriella said as she pretended to smell something foul.

"I'll only take one if you come with me." Troy sat up and pulled Gabriella down next to him. He wrapped his arms around her. They laid there for ten minutes until Gabriella remembered their tight schedule.

"Let's go Troy, into the shower."

He moaned, but got up. Troy picked Gabriella up and carried to the bathroom, where he took her clothes off and carried her into the shower. They took a long, hot shower, which felt amazing. Things were beginning to seem normal once again, which made life a lot easier for the both of them.

**So, how did you guys like the chapter? I'm still deciding wether or not to end the story soon because I didn't get as many reviews as I hoped for. If you want me to continue the story, please review. It really means a lot to me. If you're reading the story and aren't reviewing, please change that. Only a few people are constantly reviewing (you know who you are) and i'm really greatful. As always, happy reviewing! :)**


	19. Chapter 19

Promises are Forever

Note: I do not own any of the characters.

Chapter Nineteen

"Gabriella, we need to get you started with this wedding of yours." Taylor took another spoonful of eggs. They decided to go to the local diner for breakfast. Troy and Chad were stuffing their faces with coffee, pancakes, and sausage. The guys mainly wanted to go out to eat because of the food, but the girls had other things planned.

"I know, I know. It's just been so busy lately at the firm and with everything else going on."

"Excuses, excuses." Taylor always wanted to have everything done ahead of time, even if she wasn't even involved. "You need to pick a season, first of all."

"I like spring. I think it would work out nicely the week before Troy has spring break. We could do the wedding the feek before, then go on our honeymoon the week after. He would only miss one week, which isn't bad."

"Alright. We need to go dress shopping soon, that would be so much fun. The guys can go back and watch some stupid game on TV or something."

"God, Tay. You already had your wedding."

Chad took a sip of coffee and looked over at the girls. They had barely touched their food. "Yeah, and it was lovely. Are you guys going to finish your food?"

"Really, really Chad? This is an important part of Gabriella's life and all you can think about is food? Whatever, let's get a move on Gabriella. The guys can eat. We'll take my car."

Gabriella shrugged and grabbed her jacket. Taylor was the kind of person who you couldn't debate with. Whatever you said to her was always going to be wrong.

Troy stood up and kissed Gabriella. "Don't do anything stupid" he whispered into her ear. Gabriella blushed and turned towards Taylor, who was halfway out the door.

"Tay, do I really have to try on all of these dresses?" Gabriella had already tried on five dresses, none of which she liked.

"Yes, you need to keep your mind open. My dress wasn't my favorite at first, but I grew to love it."

"Speaking of growing, how did things go with you?"

"What do you mean?" Taylor put down the dress she was looking at and gave Gabriella a confused glance.

"You know, when we ran into each other at the store a few weeks ago."

"Oh, right. Yeah, it was negative. I don't know if i'm happy or dissapointed. I mean, it would be great to start a family with Chad, but i'm really happy with what I have right now."

Gabriella smiled and tried on the next dress Taylor handed to her. She thought about starting a family with Troy, but knew that they had way too much going on at the moment to even think about that possiblilty.

"Gabriella, you'll never guess who is calling me right now." Taylor looked back at her phone, then back to her best friend. "It's Sharpay."

Sharpay had been out of the country for two years. They had virtually no way to talk to each other, besides occasional email. She had been flying all across Europe to talk to high schoolers about the thrill of drama club and the arts. Ever since she started her own thearter club, anyone who had talent became involved. Once Europe heard of Sharpay's success they asked her to come and do workshops. The workshops were for kids as young as five years old, to professional actors and actresses. The reason Sharpay's program was so popular was not only because of her talent, but because her husband was also touring with her. Her husband was Zeke Baylor, the famous baker. He would cater to all of Sharpay's events. It probually also helped that both of them combined could easily be worth a billion dollars.

"No way, does this mean that she's back home?"

Taylor nodded her head as she talked to her other best friend.

"Tell Sharpay to come over to our apartment, and you can come too Tay. Tell her to bring Zeke and I guess Chad can come too."

The reunion was set up and was going to happen that day.

"Aright, so you're trying to tell me that you went wedding dress shopping, but you came home with Sharpay and Zeke?" Troy was excited to have his friends back home, but he was also very confused.

"I guess that's what happened. Zeke's bringing dessert for all of us!" Gabriella plopped down on the couch next to Troy. He put his arm around her as she rested her head on his neck.

"What do you want to do tonight, with them?"

"I have no idea. I don't even know why I offered our apartment for everyone to come to."

"It's all good. I'd rather be home then anywhere else."

Gabriella smiled at Troy. Even though he had been back with her for weeks, it still felt good to hear him say the word home to her."

She sat back up and tried to get comfy again. "Hey Troy, did Chad ever tell you about Taylor?"

"Uh, no. What was he supposed to tell me?"

"She's not pregnant. I didn't know if he told you or not. I just found out today. I guess they didn't want to talk about it."

"That sucks, I guess."

Gabriella turned to face Troy." Do you want to have kids?"

Troy seemed suprised by her question. "Well, yeah, of course. Not right now though. We have too much planned. After the wedding, whenever you're ready. I mean, you're the one who is going to be carrying a baby around for nine months."

The door bell rang, which interrupted their conversation. Gabriella jumped off of the couch and ran to the door.

"Shar!"

"Gabby!"

The two friends hugged, while Taylor pushed her way into the apartment. Zeke followed, then Chad after. Troy got off of the couch and hugged his other best friend. Everyone said their hellos, then settled down in the living room. Gabriella and Troy had three loveseats, which was perfect for the night's festivities.

"Alright guys," Sharpay began, "I feel like we haven't done anything fun together in a long time. Do you want to play never have I ever?"

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Taylor screamed. She almost fell off of the couch with excitement. "Alright, Shar, you go first."

"Wait." Everyone turned to see that Troy was actually talking. "Are we playing this G-rated, or R-rated?"

"What do you think?" Sharpay shot back at him. "Now Troy, shut up. It's my turn. Alright, never have I ever kissed someone on the first date."

Everyone looked around to see who would be taking a drink. To their suprise, Gabriella was the one taking a drink.

"Man, Gabriella." Chad joked around.

"Calm down guys. It was during eighth grade, and it wasn't even a kiss."

"Whatever you say Gabriella." Everyone laughed.

"Hey guys, do you want to play another game?" Gabriella looked around at her friends. "Well, not really a game, but like, hmm, a talking circle or something?"

"I'm fine with that."

"Of course you are, Bolton." Chad snickered.

Gabriella continued. "Like, someone picks a topic and we have to go around in a circle and say something about it."

"Like pies?" Zeke laughed. "I love pies, and I can make them too."

"Oh, shut up Zeke." Sharpay gave him a fake shove. "I get what you mean Gabriella. I'll start it off. Ok, the topic is, hmm, your first kiss and who it was with. And not any kindergarten crap, like an actual kiss."

Everyone agreed, and Taylor started. They went around the circle, suprised at many of their friend's answers. Then, it was Gabriella's turn.

"My first kiss, let's see. Eighth grade was him kissing me on the cheek, but i'd have to say that it was with some guy, uhh, Troy Bolton." They all laughed as Troy leaned over to kiss Gabriella again.

They played games the whole night as if they were in high school again. As the night went on, Gabriella curled into Troy's arms. Nothing could have been better, Gabriella thought. She had the man she loved and her four best friends in one place, smiling, and having a great time.

**I was very impressed with the amount of reviews that I got from the last chapter. I'm still thinking about what i'm going to do with this story. If everyone reviews like last time, i'll announce what i'm planning to do when I update the next chapter. If I don't get a lot of reviews, then i'm just not going to update at all. Everyone, review! I'm planning on doing one more big change in the storyline, FYI. Just know, this story's fate rests upon your reviews, so everyone review! Have a good weekend! :)**


	20. Chapter 20

Promises are Forever

Chapter Twenty

**Hey guys! I'm back! I'm SOOOOOO sorry that I haven't updated in forever, since I've had softball and dance for three months straight. Anyway, I don't really remember what I was planning on doing with this story, so I'm just gonna pull something out of my brain. **

"Troy, wake up. It's almost eleven thirty! Everyone is still here, but they're all sleeping too." Gabriella shook her fiancé.

Troy slowly opened his eyes. "Ella, just go back to sleep. Who cares what time it is." He pulled Gabriella back on to the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Ughh, Troy." She sighed. "Can you just come downstairs with me. I want to start cooking, but I don't want to have to do it alone."

"Fine, give me a minute." Troy slowly sat up. "You don't think that any of them, you know, did anything nasty here?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "You would think of that first thing in the morning."

"Hey, it's only a natural thought. Plus, you're right next to me. That's what's always on my mind when I'm with you."

"You are too much wildcat." Gabriella kissed Troy, then walked over to her dresser. "What should I wear today?"

"Personally, I think you should wear one of my t-shirts from high school. I like when you wear my clothes. But, if I had a choice, I would have you wear nothing."

"Troy, its not even noon yet, can you please get your mind out of the gutter? Now, go get dressed. And, go downstairs and start the coffee, will you?"

Troy mimicked Gabriella behind her back. "You are the one that is too much."

Gabriella sighed and continued to search through her drawers for a pair of shorts to put on.

"Hey, good morning sleepy heads!" Troy said with his best impression of a small child. "Breakfast will be done shortly, and the coffee is hot and ready for consumption."

Chad jumped off of the couch that he and Taylor had been sleeping on and ran into the kitchen to join Troy with the cooking.

"Hey man, how'd you sleep?" Troy said as Chad walked into the room.

"Great. Listen, before Tay wakes up I gotta talk to you. I've been tracking her, uh, feminine schedule and uh, I think that she's actually pregnant. I think she just lied to me or something, or maybe the test was wrong. Do you think I should say something to her?"

"Personally, I would be talking to Gabriella about this if I were you. She knows more about those types of things."

"Dude, I need answers! This could change my life." Chad sighed and sat down on the counter.

"Chad, calm down. I'm sure everything is going to turn out alright."

"Let's hope so. Is Gabriella up yet?"

"Yeah, she's getting ready now. Why?"

"I'm gonna go talk to her. " Chad hopped off of the counter and began to walk upstairs to their room.

Troy cracked open some eggs and put them on the frying pan. They sizzled, along with the bacon that was cooking aside them. Taylor walked into the kitchen, which made Troy jump.

"Good morning Taylor. There's coffee over there."

"I don't want any coffee yet. Listen." Taylor slammed her fist on the counter. "I was talking to Gabriella last night. She said that she wants to move the wedding date up. I don't know why, but I think you should investigate that."

"What!" Troy spit his coffee out on the ground. "Move the wedding up? We're not even close to being finished yet. I mean, come on. And she didn't even tell me this. That means that we would have to change all of the invitations and everything. Oh god, Taylor."

"Was she acting funny this morning, around you or anything?"

"Not that I know of. But why would she want to move the wedding up? Taylor, what am I supposed to do?"

Gabriella was sitting on their bed staring out the window at a birds nest in a nearby tree.

She was thinking about the mama bird, and how someday her little baby birds would fly away and have baby birds of their own. Gabriella left her mama bird and was wondering what was going to happen next in her life, when Chad walked into the room.

"Hey Gabs. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing really." Gabriella shrugged and rested her head on her hand.

"You don't look like nothing's going on. Seriously, Gabs, you know that you can tell me anything you don't want Taylor or Troy to know."

"I'm fine Chad, really."

"Really?"

Gabriella began to cry. Chad walked over to the bed and put his arms around her.

"Chad, I don't know if I can do this."

**Once again, I'M SOOOO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A BAJILLION YEARS! What do you think will happen next? What do you think Gabriella can't do? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! I want to know if readers are actually still out there, because if not, I'll start something new or end this story. As always, happy reading! **


	21. Chapter 21

Promises are Forever

Chapter Twenty-One

Note: I don't own Disney or any of the characters.

"Gabs, what can't you do?" Chad held Gabriella tighter as she cried more and more. He was worried because Gabriella never was this upset over something that she couldn't tell Taylor or Troy.

"I had a dream last night," she said in between sniffles, "that some guy, he, he, he killed Troy and I was thinking about it and how I couldn't ever live without him and—"

"Whoa, Gabriella. No one is trying to kill Troy."

"I tried to write it off, but Chad, I know that something isn't right. Something hasn't been right since my dad died. That was the start of it all. Someone is out there for me and they're just killing off all of the people I love."

"Gabriella, you're talking crazy. But why would this just come up again, like, were you thinking too much?"

"I don't know."

"But what you said before, what can't you do?"

Gabriella started to cry again, even harder than before. "I can't stay with Troy. I love him too much to see him get hurt all because of me."

"Gabriella, you do know that Troy would do anything for you, even if his life was at risk?"

"Yeah, that's the problem. I wouldn't be able to live knowing that I was the reason for all of his agony, or even, death."

"They would have to get through me and Troy to ever get to you Gabs." He gave Gabriella a little squeeze.

"Yeah."

Just then, Troy poked his head into the room. "The food is done, if you guys are hungry."

Chad got up from the bed and motioned to talk to Troy in the hallway. Gabriella laid back down on their bed, holding Troy's pillow.

"What's up man?" Troy knew that Gabriella had been acting funny from his and Taylor's conversation earlier.

"You need to talk to her. All she said was that she didn't know if she could do the wedding anymore. She said something about someone being out to get to her, and that she didn't want to see you get hurt just because of her."

"Not that again. Right after the explosion across from the hospital happened she got all paranoid. She thinks that someone is out to get to her, and that's why her dad is gone, and why I was put in the hospital after my accident."

"Troy, just go talk to her. I think that something else is going on." Chad slapped his best friend's back and walked down the stairs.

Troy looked into the bedroom. His heart broke every time Gabriella cried over him.

"Hey, Ella, you alright?"

"Troy, it's not your fault." Gabriella cried. Troy ran over to the bed and laid down next to Gabriella. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

"Ella, listen to me. No one is going to hurt me. You need to stop thinking about me so much. Think about yourself. I'm fine. I love you, and that's all that matters."

"I know, I know," she said as she kept crying into Troy's arms," but the wedding—"

"What about the wedding? Tay said that you wanted to move it up, but why?"

"Because I don't want to look fat in my dress and I don't want my mom to think—"

"Wait, Ella?" Troy said in a soothing tone. "You're not fat at all, you're beautiful, but why would you think that you would be fat in a couple of months?"

Gabriella let a small smile escape from her tear stained face. "Because you're going to be a daddy."

"Oh Ella, I love you so much, this is amazing!" Troy said as he kissed his fiancé. "Just wait until we tell the others! They'll be so excited!"

"But Troy, I don't want to tell them. I'm going to tell Taylor, and you can tell Chad, but not anyone else. Not your family, nor my mom. I told my mom that we wouldn't do anything until we were married. That's why she was so okay with you sleeping over. She trusted me, and I went back on her word a few years ago."

"Ella, it's not like I'm just going to leave you alone and pregnant."

"Oh my God Troy, don't even kid about that."

Troy laughed. "I'm sorry Ella, but think about it. We're going to finally start our family, just like we've always wanted. And yeah, we can move the wedding up. How about we have the wedding in two months. Well, how far along are you?"

"Only a few weeks, I guess. I'm not going to show for at least three more months. But can we have the wedding in a month? Please Troy, pleaseee?"

"I'm going to have to take off of work then. The wedding would be in September then, or early October. It would be perfect weather, right?"

"Yeah, it would be great. I'm so sorry though Troy. I screwed everything up."

"You didn't do anything wrong Gabriella. Everything happens for a reason, right?"

A noise came from outside of their bedroom door, somewhat like a giggle or a squeal.

"Did you hear that Troy?"

"Mmhmm." Troy got up from the bed and walked over to the door. He pulled it open, leaving Taylor and Chad standing in the doorway in disbelief.

"Hey guys." Gabriella snickered as she watched her best friends turn bright red with embarrassment.

Taylor walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to Gabriella. "Congratulations honey!" she said as she hugged her best friend. "I'll be happy to help you with whatever you need help with. I'm sure that Zeke would love to cater the wedding also."

"Thanks Tay. I'm going to need you so much during the next nine months."

"Don't even bother asking, I'm going to be over here all the time."

Gabriella smiled, knowing that whatever happened in the next few months, her two best friends and her amazing fiancé would be there for her, always.

**So guys, I'm very disappointed in the ZERO reviews that I got for the last chapter. Consider this then end of the story if you don't want to review anymore. If I get ten reviews, then I will continue this story**. **If I don't get the ten reviews, well, then, say goodbye to Gabriella and Troy and their wedding and their baby. You'll never know what is going to happen! So I suggest that you review. And don't just say "good chapter." I actually want to know what you think, what you want out of the story, and anything else. Happy reading and ****reviewing**.


	22. The End

Hey Guys! I've decided that I'm going to end Promises are Forever…..however, I'm going to be starting a sequel to it! It will be focused on Troy and Gabriella's wedding and their family. It will probably be called Promises are Always Forever. Anyway, thank you for all of the reviews and everything that you guys did. I'm sorry for saying that no one reviewed, my e-mail was messed up. Also, on the sequel I'm going to make a 5 review requirement for the next chapter to be posted. Once again, thank you so much. Check out PROMISES ARE ALWAYS FOREVER! 3


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